Stolen
by Telethryl
Summary: Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death and one of eleven Supernovas, is on his way to Sabaody Archipelago. But only one island away, he discovers something rather interesting. He is being shadowed. LawxOC
1. Chapter 1: Boring Day

**I do not own One Piece.**

**Mara Reade and several of the people she works with, however, are mine. **

**Stolen**

**Chapter 1: Boring Day**

Trafalgar Law was a calm and relaxed kind of person. Unless engaged in either doctoring or fighting, he rarely bothered to be 'tense and ready' as other pirates would be accustomed to being. At the moment, he was strolling along the market of a rather boring little town.

Boring was a good term. Trafalgar Law was bored.

It wasn't completely uncommon for him to be such when nothing was going on, like it was now. Things were quiet. This dinky little island didn't even have a marine base, let alone a major opposing power to him.

But that being said, there was one vaguely interesting little thing going on. He was being followed. Now, he had no physical proof of this and in actuality was making a guess. He felt that it was a good guess.

There was an odd feeling in the air. An odd pressure that he had never felt before. It had been there since that morning but he had yet to find a cause. It wasn't quite enough to relieve his boredom, but it was enough to keep his attention.

When he looked around at the other people in the market, it was very clear that no one else felt it. Hell, even his crew hadn't felt it when it had first appeared that morning. It surprised him that even Bepo didn't notice it, with animal instincts as a factor.

Perhaps it was just going to storm. Maybe he was suddenly and inexplicably getting the ability to sense changes in the atmosphere. The sarcastic thought brought an equally sarcastic smile to his face. Yes, perhaps _that _was it.

The sub came into view as he approached the harbor. He could just make out the sun setting on the horizon directly behind it, casting an orange glow over the water and the yellow metal. The few crew members milling about the deck and around the dock didn't seem to be noticing anything odd as he approached.

What had he been expecting? All of them shifting uncomfortably? Looking to the sides warily, as if expecting some kind of attack? No, that was silly. And as he stepped into the submarine, he very nearly paused curiously.

The pressure was gone.

Just like that.

The curious sensation left him so suddenly he couldn't help but tilt his head to the side in thought, though he managed to not change his pace. He was now certain there was something off with this little town.

Dinner in the galley went by smoothly. In fact, his entire routine went by smoothly. The pressure did not reappear the entire time he was on the ship. When he sat down on his bed and pulled off his boots, he was contemplating going back out into the town just to see if it would start up again.

He clicked off his light and laid back on the his bed, crossing his legs as he hummed in thought. That's when it happened. The pressure reappeared so suddenly Law had to fight to keep his expression in its unconcerned, thoughtful way.

Where was it coming from? Idly, he tilted his head slightly to get a look at his door. It was shut tight, just as he had left it. Despite that, he was positive it had been opened in the last minute. If someone had asked, he wouldn't have been able to say why or how he knew that.

He just knew that it had.

With a casual air, he tilted his head back to the ceiling and closed his eyes. As if he hadn't noticed the sudden disturbance. And then he felt it move. The center of the pressure must have been too far away from him outside for him to feel it, but in the close quarters of his room he could feel in quite keenly.

It was moving near his bed. It didn't feel like it was coming at him. No, it felt like it was going to go past him. But it was moving within arms reach of him, should he feel the inclination to reach out and grab it.

As a matter of fact, he did feel the inclination. It was almost level with his head, having moved from the end where his feet were resting up his body, when he lashed out. The movement was so fast and unexpected that all the pressure could do was squeak in surprise as it was yanked to him.

At the same time, he rolled his body and pulled it, effectively trapping it beneath him against his mattress. He was surprised at the feel of soft skin beneath his fingers, and even though he had small hands they wrapped easily around the wrist.

One of his tattooed hands went and clicked on the lamp beside the bed. Time to get a look at the thing that had been plaguing him. His eyes shifted to look at the person now struggling beneath him. He was forced to use one of his knees to pin a thrashing thigh down.

It was a woman, that much was certain by her shape. She was wearing black clothes that covered almost all of her skin, but were tight enough so that when she moved they would clearly stay out of her way.

The effect showed off her attractively curving frame nicely, though he could tell that she didn't have an overabundance of curves like the women he saw on the streets in larger towns. He couldn't see her hair color at all, her tresses tucked neatly up under a tight black hat.

Her sapphire eyes looked up at him defiantly as she struggled even more, forcing him to actually put some thought into restraining her. His free hand grabbed her other wrist, pinning both trapped appendages on either side of her head.

A frown was coming to her lips. In the little bit of light, he could see that her skin only a few shades away from pale. She carried no weapons that he could see and didn't appear to be trying to get to any, just trying to get out of his vice-like grip.

"I take it you're the one that's been following me all day?" Law questioned lightly after taking his time examining his victim.

The woman did well to control the surprise that flitted across her eyes. She went still, having tested his ability to hold her and not found weakness. Struggling would just tire her out and stop her shoulder she find a way out later.

Law was once again surprised. The woman had some sense if she stopped thrashing for the reason he thought she had. "What brings you here?" He asked lazily when she didn't answer, a smile curling the corners of his lips. The question was innocent and, in this situation, rather funny.

She said nothing, her lips closing together in a tight line as she glared defiantly up at him. The dignity she managed to display while being pinned to a bed by a pirate was astounding. It spoke highly of whatever training she had had.

"Are you going to answer me?" he asked, this time in amusement.

Her lips twitched lightly with a smile she was holding back. Whatever she had been expecting when she got caught, this was not it. Deliberately, she shook her head once. No. She would not be answering his questions.

He feigned a sigh and cocked his head, trying to decide what to do with her. "I suppose I could just kill you," he mused, almost as if contemplating the chance of rain. The bland look on the woman's face told him that was what she had been expecting from the beginning. He chuckled openly at the reaction. Her sapphire eyes rolled.

Yes, he could kill her. But her reactions to him were amusing and, dare he think it, curious. This was not how one was supposed to react to being held down by a famous and feared pirate. The wild thrashing, yes. The sarcastic eye rolling, no.

Perhaps today's entertainment had been successful after all.

"But where would be the fun in that?" He continued, voicing his thoughts. This time she eyed him warily, her mouth still in a tight line. "That you were able to get aboard my ship suggests skill. But that just raises more questions. If you answer me, I may not kill you."

The woman did not move. It was clear to him she was trained for this kind of situation, and trained well. It was going to take some doing to get her to crack.

His face darkened as his lips curled up wickedly. "Don't think I'm above torture to get what I want," he threatened, his voice a mixture of darkness and light tones.

It sent a shiver down her spine. He could feel it as goose bumps blossomed under his fingers along her wrists. But he saw no fear in her eyes. She just looked at him with a sad and resigned sort of silence. Her lips even loosened, allowing a sigh to escape.

Still she didn't speak.

"What could possibly be so important?" He wondered aloud. This couldn't be some kind of personal mission for her; it was clearly some kind of job. But who was she working for? "You're clearly willing to die and take my answers with you."

A malicious grin spread across his face suddenly and she squirmed. When a pirate gave you that look, you run. No sane person would debate that logic, especially when considering who was giving it to her.

Suddenly, Law's hand shifted so one grabbed her shoulder and the other pulled back, his palm open. He yanked her away from the bed in the same motion and brought his hand forward, slamming it into her chest. "Mes."

Her eyes widened in surprised and alarm as she gasped. Her head snapped down to look at where he hit. She let out a cry of alarm when she saw the square shaped hole underneath her tight shirt, right where her heart _should _have been.

The pain occurred to her only after she had looked, as it lanced its way straight to her core. Her teeth grit and it was clear she was trying to hold on as long as she could. Unfortunately for her, the sensation was far too much and she collapsed right into his lap.

Law looked down at her for a long moment, before looking to the heart in his hand. He could easily kill her. Kill her and be done with it. Something, however, was stopping him. It was difficult to put a finger on exactly what it was.

Perhaps it was his boredom. He had certainly been hoping for something interesting to do, and here this woman shows up presenting just that. And, really, how fun would it be to have a been that had probably been trying to kill him?

Gray eyes drifted back to the unconscious form. His head cocked to the side as he contemplated the downed woman. Of course, he would kill her in the end. But in the meantime, a little fun was in order.


	2. Chapter 2: Heart-In-A-Box

**Chapter 2: Heart-In-A-Box**

The first thing she noticed was that she was on something soft. The second thing hit her rather like a truck would. _Why the hell wasn't she dead?_ She was fairly certain that her heart had been ripped from her chest before she passed out.

And she wasn't even ashamed of passing out, either. That was exactly what was supposed to happen when vital organs were removed. She was a little ashamed that that stupid pirate had been able to _remove_ an organ, but she wasn't ashamed of the aftermath.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. She was met with a picture of a metal ceiling. So she was still in the submarine. That was probably better than waking up buried underground or something, she supposed. Though that was all she could give it.

It looked as if she was still in the Captain's Quarters, too. Her head tilted to the side. Trafalgar Law was sitting there, casually reading a book entitled 'Intricacies of the Human Nervous System'. The man was not even a foot away.

Her mouth opened in a cry of fright and she rolled away from him and onto the floor. He didn't stop her and his grin returned as he lowered his book. She scrambled backward as fast as she could, her eyes locked on Law as her hands scrambled to clutch at the hole in her chest.

She only stopped when her back was pressed against the door, fingers prodding the open space in her chest. "What the hell did you do to me?!" she cried, fear finally creeping into her.

Lazily, he placed his book on the stand beside the bed and reached over to picked up a clear blue cube from the bed where it had been sitting nearby. He held it aloft for her to see the beating heart within. She paled instantly at the sight. "Now that I have your attention, perhaps you'd like to answer some questions."

Her chest was heaving and her eyes widened the more she looked at the cube in his hand.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," he commented, lightly tossing the cube up and catching it again. Her eyes followed its motion with a terrified edge. "Why were you following me?" He questioned, easy tone not fitting the situation at all.

The was a hesitant pause as she tore her eyes away from the cube to look at him. "It's my job," she informed him quietly.

"As I figured," he confirmed. "Who do you work for?"

There was another pause as she warred with herself, clearly trying to think of a way out even as they spoke. He reclined back on his bed, holding her heart aloft carelessly. "The World Government."

Well, that was news. "Why would the government have me followed?" He was a pirate. Wasn't that what bounty hunters were for?

The woman pursed her lips and eyed him with irritation. "With so many high bounties closing heading for Sabaody Archipelago they wanted to see what to expect," she said slowly.

"I see." That was the next island on the map. "So all of us 'Supernovas' must be being watched." She didn't answer and this time he didn't mind, the answer was obvious. "How were you able to go undetected?"

"Martial training. We all have it."

He nodded. She was likely in an information and/or assassination branch of the government. Possibly Cipher Pol. It wasn't particularly surprising to learn that they would get that kind of training. In fact, it was downright expected that they would. "So you don't have a Devil Fruit power?"

"No."

"What's your name?" He asked curiously, taking his eyes off of her heart to look at her. Her lips pulled into a frown. "Oh, come now. We're going to be dealing with each other for a while. Why not make this civil?" He teased.

It had the desired morbidly amusing effect. Her eyes widened in absolute terror and her hand planted itself firmly over the hole in her chest. "W-what?"

His dark brow rose delicately. "You didn't think I was going to let you go, did you?"

She had certainly had hoped so, however unlikely the scenario was. Clearly she was wrong. "And what exactly do you want with me, then?" She wasn't just pet he could keep around.

"Wouldn't it be fun to have a marine work for me?" he considered with a crooked grin. "That would make an amusing picture."

She rolled her eyes and groaned, dropping her forehead to rest in her palm. "Just kill me now. I'm serious." She would be dead anyway if she ever made it back to the base after this.

"No, no, this will be more fun." He lifted the heart again for her to see. "I'm the only one who can get this back to where it's supposed to be. So why don't you be a good girl and tell me your name." He looked at her expectantly, his trademark lazy smile never leaving his lips.

She had to wonder what would happen to her if he died. Mainly because she was contemplating leaping across the room and… snapping his neck or stabbing him, or something. Mara wasn't entirely sure. The plan was a work in progress.

Would her disembodied heart cease to beat and kill her instantly? Probably. It seemed the most likely conclusion given that powers tended to die with their master. Well, she had to take society and logic's word on that, since she had never actually witnessed a fruit user with a power like this active at the time of death.

And then there was the unconcerned way he didn't even bother to keep his guard up. It told her more than her training and the Government records. "Mara Reade," she told him.

"Well then, Miss Mara, welcome to the Heart Pirates."

Suddenly, as Trafalgar Law stood and placed her heart in a small metal box, the name of the pirate crew didn't sound so amusing.

* * *

Mara sat against the wall of the captain's quarters and took the time to look around. Now that light was seeping in through the porthole, she could see it clearly. The room was tidy and ridiculously clean, not that she should have expected much else from a surgeon captain.

The man himself was asleep in the bed, his features oddly serene without the smile she kept seeing. He wasn't wearing a shirt, showing off some of the tattoos on his torso that weren't covered by the blanket strewn on top of him.

Her eyes landed on the small metal box sitting beside her bed. It was probably and wide as the length of her hand; just the right size to hold her heart in. The blue cube that enclosed her heart directly had slid into the box perfectly, so that no matter how the metal was moved it wouldn't harm the organ within.

This was probably so he could carry it around. Her stomach did a weird flip and she crumpled in on herself. She refused to allow herself to cry at the situation, but she would allow herself time to freak out in private. And that time was now.

Her captor was, after all, sleeping at the moment.

Mara choked as she held back her sob, her eyes squeezing shut. Her life had never gone the way she had wanted it, but this was bordering on the insane. She had joined the government with the hope to do some real good. Mostly. Sort of. It you looked at it in a certain light…

Okay, that wasn't the point right now. Right now she was wallowing.

Instead of doing good, she had become an instrument to kill people who didn't seem to deserve it and to spy on people who could easily kill her if she slipped up. A point which was emphasized loudly with her current predicament.

A hand landed on her head and she nearly leapt out of her skin, her eyes meeting the dark orbs of the 'Surgeon of Death'. The startled reaction brought a smirk to his lips. It interested him to see her so distressed when last night she had seemed ready for anything he could dish out.

So, his new government sponsored toy had feelings. He would have to remember to look into that later.

To confirm his suspicion, her face went instantly neutral as she looked into his amused gaze. He lifted his hand to allow her the remainder of her pride (for now) and crossed his arms, observing her. "I think we need to keep this little incident a secret, don't you?"

"Don't want that particular ability known to the Marines just yet?" Mara guessed, watching his eyes dance at her expense. "So how do you plan to do that?" She looked down at her chest incredulously. "I have a hole where something rather important should be."

Law smirked and went over to his dresser, pulling open a drawer and going through the neatly stacked piles of clothes. "Until I'm able to get you something a little looser to wear, you'll have to deal with this." He pulled out a bundle of cloth and tossed it to her.

Unfolding it revealed it to be a hoodie, mostly yellow except for the black sleeves and the black Jolly Roger on the front. It was exactly like the one he was wearing yesterday, and on his wanted poster. The article made her wonder just how many the man had.

"Well this is a tad bit humbling," she muttered, staring at the cloth in her hands. But she didn't argue, instead pulling it over her head. It was large enough on her to not show the gaping hole at all.

Mara sighed as she looked down at her new garment, her hand going to her hat before she pulled it off slowly, her mind elsewhere. Long chestnut tresses cascaded down to rest on her lower back. It looked like she hardly noticed.

Law had to admit, she looked pretty good in his hoodie. Or rather, he liked the mark plastered on the front of a government dog. At that point it was hard to tell exactly which he was feeling, though he figured it was a bit of both.

She stood up and stretched, completely ignoring how close he was now that she was on her feet, and didn't bother to hold up the blanket she had been wrapped in as it fell to the floor. The night before, he had pulled several blankets out of his closet, which she promptly took to a corner and curled up in.

"I've explained the situation to my crew," he informed her as he stepped away to get dressed himself.

It must have been while she slept. She turned her back to him and was graced with the sounds of clothes rustling as he changed from light night clothes to his day wear. "Oh good," she said sarcastically, her eyes fixed on the blank wall in front of her, studiously ignoring that fact that he was taking his clothes off behind her.

It bothered her how difficult it was for her to not turn around. Nothing of the sort had ever even crossed her mind in the past. Mostly it was because she never bothered to think of people in that light. "Time to get acquainted with the ship," he said, not even a foot behind her. When she nearly jumped out of her skin, he chuckled. It made him wonder what she had been contemplating with such intensity.

A low growl erupted from her throat. Mara did not like being laughed at. "Lead the way."

And just like that, he showed his back to her as he walked casually out the door and down the hallway. Her mouth dropped open in shock. She was so little a threat to him that he would turn his back to her without a moment's hesitation.

"Come along," Law called over his shoulder.

Mara scowled but followed him down the narrow halls of the sub. It irked her to no end, the situation she was in now. What would her superiors say? Given what it sounded like the pirate wanted with her, they'd probably just execute her for piracy.

Her eyes fell to his waist and the new ornament dangling off it. It was the metal box! How amazingly cocky, Mara thought. Grudgingly, she admitted that it was probably better this way. If the strong and feared captain carried it, it would be safer than any other place it could be.

Gods, what had her life come to?

They entered the galley to many curious stares. Yes, she completely believed that Trafalgar told them about her while she had been sleeping. They were curious, but not in the way that made them question why she was there. They were probably wondering why their captain was bothering with her.

Mara wondered the same thing.

"Bepo," Law called, eyes on a large white bear in an orange jump suit. This would have bothered her if she hadn't done her research.

"Captain!" Bepo jumped to his feet.

"Have we set sail, yet?" The Heart Pirates captain asked.

"Yes, captain. We were waiting until you awoke to dive," the bear informed him.

Law nodded. "Then dive. The marines could have gotten word of our stop at Jigoon," he theorized. "We don't need them following us just yet."

"I was the one following you," Mara said dryly, causing chuckles to erupt at several of the nearby tables. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

The captain turned to regard her, a smirk on his face. "All the same."

Bepo saluted. "Aye aye, captain!" And he scurried away, off the go tell the navigator to make the ship dive.


	3. Chapter 3: Doctor, Doctor

**Chapter 3: Doctor, Doctor**

Law led her to the back of the galley, where the chef was cooking food behind a small counter in a small enclosed room. Mara had to admit, being aboard a submarine was definitely different from the ships she was used to. She just regretted seeing the Captain's Quarters. If she had just hidden somewhere out of the way, none of this would have happened.

Overachieving felt an awful lot like captivity.

"Here you go, captain," one of his crew members said, handing him a plate of food. Another was held out to Mara not even half a minute later. She took it, eyeing the food without an ounce of trust.

"Thank you." Law motioned for Mara to take a seat at one of the tables. She did so slowly, her wary gaze going between him and the food. "We didn't poison it, if that's what your worried about."

"I'm worried about what else you could have put in it," she commented easily, using her fork to poke at the food. What use would he have to poison her? Her heart was literally in his hands. "You _are_ the 'Dark Doctor'."

His brows rose. He was impressed that she would think something like that. And in all honesty, he _had_ considered trying out some of his drugs on her. His slender fingers lifted her tray away from her and switched it with his. "Fair point, Miss Mara."

Mara eyed the new plate with the same lack of trust she had her own. Law laughed openly at the reaction. "You're considered quite the tactician," Mara informed him, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms She had no intention of eating that food.

He leaned over, giving her his disturbingly calm smile, and scooped some of her new food up. Slowly, deliberately so he had her attention, he put the food in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed without looking away from her, and never once attempted to sit back in his chair. "Eat, Miss Mara. I have no plans to experiment on you like that."

"Oh, _that's _comforting," she said sarcastically, widening his smile. It sent a shiver down her spine. The man was scary in the most attractive way.

Her mind went completely black and her eyes widened slightly.

Oh _no_. She _did not _just think that.

What was wrong with her mind? She had never once had this kind of problem before and she had been assigned to watch people other women had swooned over. She knew. She had been watching. And yet this one man, this Trafalgar Law, was making her have trouble with her professionalism.

Law watched the emotions play behind her eyes with interest. It was a curious thing, the way her mind had just suddenly seemed to shut down. He had seen the effects of her training first hand, so it made him wonder what was going on in that little head.

Had she shut down her mind to stop a dangerous line of thought? It seemed most likely. She appeared to be in control enough to do something like that. His thoughts drifted briefly back to what had happened when it started. Nothing had _seemed_ out of the ordinary. Well, for the situation, anyway.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes began to focus again. Law waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello again, you back with me?"

Her gaze drifted to him dryly. "I didn't think I left."

"Oh, you did," he murmured in a curious tone, eyeing her face. She was being careful to mask her feelings now, when before it had seemed second nature to her.

They stared at each other for several long minutes.

"What made you want to be a marine, Miss Mara?" Law asked finally, leaning back and taking a bite from his food.

Reluctantly, she did the same. The last thing she wanted to do was play by his rules. But for the time being, until she figured things out, she would have to. "My brother."

"He a role model or something?"

The uncomfortable stillness that followed answered his question for him. Which was good, considering she didn't. "Something like that. You know, typical back story of following in big brothers footsteps and all that," she said dryly.

He didn't believe it for a second. And seeing as he had nothing else to do, he settled down for a story. "Tell me."

Mara frowned at the man in front of her. Just because he had her heart didn't mean he could know what was in it. Lazily, his hand went to rest atop the metal box dangling from his belt loop. Her eyes followed the motion unconsciously and she heard the unspoken threat loud and clear.

Even so, resisting the urge to tell him to shove it was difficult.

A sigh escaped her lips. "You truly are a cruel man, Trafalgar Law," she told him tiredly.

His eyes lit up with curiosity once again. "Last night you were so prepared to die for your cause. Now when I threaten your life, you simply bow to my whims. Why?"

"Do you want the story or not?" She snapped without malice. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to be mad at this point. He held his hands up in defense, silently telling her to go on. "First off, you should know that my brother is also my boss."

"Interesting."

She rolled her eyes and a smile came to her lips. She realized a moment too late and drew it back in. "He has a strong code of justice, which is what drew him to the marines. The problem is, he also has a slight personality defect. He has aspergers bordering on the sociopathic."

Law's brow rose in interest.

Mara plowed on, just wanting to finish spewing her guts so he would leave her alone. "He has a skewed version of right and wrong because of that. He doesn't view methods terrible so long as they get the desired result. He can't. The concept is totally foreign to him."

"Sociopath, indeed," Law agreed.

"So naturally, forcing his little sister to become a marine didn't bother him at all." There was a pause as she stiffened before she shrugged. "He wanted me to be a marine so there would be more people to uphold the justice. So here I am."

His head tilted to the side in an appraising manner. "The story fits. You missed some of it, however, Miss Mara."

"How would you know that?" She snapped. It was her life, after all.

"Your personality does not match up with all you said, from what I've observed. A proud creature that takes removing her heart to tame," he observed lightly. "So how did this man force you to join something you talk about with distaste?"

"Why is this interesting at all?" Mara wondered aloud.

He shrugged. "There isn't much to do out at sea, and last night I managed to find the most fascinating woman in my room." It was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic or not, so she just assumed he was. He leaned forward again. "Do tell."

She didn't say anything for a long while. The rest of the crew filed out during the long term stare-down, moving on to do their jobs. Law was beginning to wonder if it was her pride rearing again when she shifted.

Mara pulled her lips into a tight line as she looked at the pirate captain and lifted her hand the neck of her new yellow and black hoodie. The cloth pulled away from her skin easily and she pulled the neckline of both that and her tight black shirt beneath down to her collar bone.

Law was up and moving around the table the second the off-colored line appeared from beneath the shirts. He sat beside her and took a quick glance around the room. No one was there. With ease, his slender fingers took hold of the hem her shirt and he swiftly pulled it over her head.

When it was off her face, he noticed the darkening color on her cheeks and smirked. But then his face became a mask of clinical detachment as he pulled at the neckline of the remaining shirt. He frowned. The wounds would be impossible to examine with the black cloth in the way.

Mara saw the look and without hesitating pulled the second shirt off, leaving her in only her black bra. When she had decided to show the doctor captain the marks, she had expected something of the sort. She looked away from him, not wanting to see what he was doing. Warm fingers touched her skin below her collarbone and traced a line over the top of her right breast.

She didn't flinch or slap him. It was the one scar she had on the front of her torso and she knew its path well. "This was made by a blade," he observed in a detached voice. "Perhaps a dagger, based on the markings…"

Mara sat as dignified as she possibly could, back straight and eyes closed, pretending that she wasn't half naked in front of a pirate. Not to mention showing off her emotional and physical scars. For the sake of amusement.

Mostly, she just wanted to ignore how hard her heart was pounding as his fingers danced feather light across her skin.

On the upside, he wouldn't be able to hear it. It was strapped to his waist and away from his prying medical gaze. The sound of him shifting met her ears and she felt his fingers on her back this time, tracing along the several scars there.

"These weren't recent in any sense of the word," he muttered, almost too quiet for her to hear. "Except," his finger traced one and she flinched. "These right here." Several of his fingers were tracing across the red marks on her back. "This long one will scar like the others if it's not treated properly," he said to himself. "When did these new ones happen?"

"Three days ago?" Mara replied unsurely.

"Hmm." He stood and she opened her eyes to look at him. Her shirts were in his hand and he didn't look like he was about to hand them back. "So his argument to get you to join the marines came at the point of a blade?"

"Yes." She responded shortly. Hopefully he would drop the conversation.

"Follow me." Well, there went that hope.

Mara stood. "Where are we going and can I have my clothes back?"

He turned on his heel and began walking. She didn't have a choice but to follow him, half dressed. "The medical bay." At her quizzical glance, he elaborated. "At the moment, you're working for me. My crew stays in good condition, something you're not up to par with at the moment."

"You're…" He pushed open a door and strode inside. It was the cleanest room she had ever seen, and also the most terrifying. The Surgeon of Death's medical room. "You're going to fix me?"

"Yes, Miss Mara, I'm going to fix you. Lay on your stomach on the table." He motioned to the metal table in the center of the room and went about gathering up supplies from various cabinets.

With more than a little trepidation, Mara got onto the table. Everything in her being said that this was wrong, she needed to be avoiding the table at all costs. Her muscles were tensed so tight that she felt she would break. So when the water hit her bare back she jumped out of her skin.

Law chuckled. "Worried, are we?"

"Wouldn't you be?" She bit back in irritation. "I am on the Surgeon of Death's operating table." She reminded him as calmly as she could.

"So long as you don't do anything stupid, you don't have to worry about that." The wet cloth in his hand cleaned up the markings nicely. Except for one thing. "You're making yourself bleed," he informed her bluntly. "Calm down." He took her arms and placed them at her sides so as not to let her strain the wounds anymore than she was.

Mara tried valiantly to get her survival instincts to shut the hell up, but they were just not having it. "S-sorry," she apologized. "I can't."

He hummed in thought. Then she felt his hands flat against her back. "Relax." His breath ghosted across her neck, his mouth right next to her ear. He rubbed her back muscles lightly, attempting to hit the pressure points that would make her less tense. Mara buckled and she slumped to the table. "Good girl." He straightened up.

She made a noise of annoyance. Otherwise, she did nothing. There wasn't anything she could do to oppose this man, after all. The feel of cool gel touched her back and she flinched. One hand still rubbing the gel on, Law placed his other on her shoulder to still her again.

"This will numb the area so I can treat it without pain," he informed her as he moved away again, to grab something else.

The sentence struck her as odd. It took her several long, quiet moments to find out why. When she did, she sat up and turned to look at him, an unreadable edge to her eyes. He was carefully picking through one of the drawers, pulling several small metal instruments out.

"Is something wrong, Miss Mara?" Law asked lightly, not even looking up at her.

"You're a pirate known for causing pain," she said slowly. "Why would you do anything to a marine 'without pain'? Your reputation is quite clear on your methods."

"I don't see you as a marine at the moment," he told her bluntly, turning back to her with his instruments in hand. "You are part of my crew until I decide I no longer have need of you." He approached her and placed the tools on the small table next to her.

Then, without hesitation, he used his considerable strength to flip her back onto her stomach. Mara took the move stoically and didn't shift a single muscle afterwards. 'And then what will happen to me?' she wondered vaguely.


	4. Chapter 4: Aim For The Heart

**Chapter 4: Aim For The Heart**

The days went by. Four, to be precise. Every day she was toted around by Captain Trafalgar's side like some sort of pet, and in all honesty she supposed she kind of was. His snippy, sarcastic little marine pet. Every night she would sleep on a small cot that had been set up in his room.

It was clear he didn't want her roaming the ship and causing problems. That wasn't something she would dispute, because she probably would if he didn't keep her on a short leash. He didn't want the crew to be troublesome involving the only female on board. The only solution was to keep her nearby, even while she slept.

Mara quickly realized that nothing that happened ever seemed to faze Law, and it was ridiculously uncommon for her to see him stop him lazy smile. Which was impressive, because she spent the vast majority of her time deliberately trying to bother him and get under his skin, pestering and jabbing at every turn.

He was unlike any pirate she had ever followed or met in the past and she didn't want him to change into them. There was something magnetic about this Dark Doctor that she was having trouble ignoring, however much she denied it. Mara would probably die before she admitted that bit of information to the pirate.

Chestnut hair fluttered out behind Mara in waves as she stood upon the deck of the submarine. They had surfaced not even half an hour ago and the first thing the captain had done was bring her to the deck. He disappeared not long after, leaving her with only Bepo.

Mara didn't mind. It was the first time since she had been caught last night that she had been allowed outside. Mostly because they came up from the bottom of the ocean only occasionally and Law was usually busy when that happened. It was also the first time she had been allowed to be without the annoying little prick.

Her eyes narrowed slightly on the horizon. Something was there, growing steadily larger. The world just was not turning in her favor these days, was it? She knew those flags. "Oi, bear!" She called, not turning away from the ship.

The bipedal polar bear across the deck looked over at her. "What?"

"There's a marine ship on the horizon," She informed him. Her eyes narrowed more. "They've spotted us. Go get Captain Trafalgar, they're coming this way!" She would do it, but she didn't know her way around the submarine well enough yet. That and she had no idea where the hell he'd gone.

The bear made a squeak of realization when he saw the ship as well. "On it!" She glanced back in time to see his orange jumpsuit disappear through the door going below deck.

This was not good. They were already closing in. How fast was this ship, anyway? Its entire shape could be made out easily now and, give it a few seconds, she could see the men scrambling on the deck. By the time the captain was alerted, it would be too late for them to dive and get away safely.

Tense moments passed as Mara watched the ship get ever closer. The last thing she needed right now was marine interference. 'Where the hell is Captain Trafalgar?' she screamed in her mind, fingers clenching around the rails of the deck.

"Prepare to fight!" The order came loud from right behind her. Suddenly, the deck was flooding with Heart Pirates and out of the corner of her eye she saw Law come to a stop beside her. When eyed her appraisingly. "Didn't know I could use you as an early warning system."

"Only if you want 'iceberg' to the only thing you hear for the next few days."

"Why stop at a few days?"

"I'd come up with something else. Perhaps something to do with okama marines or something." Mara shrugged, crossing her arms. "I don't know. I'd have to give it more thought." One of her folded hands waved vaguely at the incoming ship. "It's closing fast," Mara told him. "They'll probably be here in three minutes, give or take two."

"Fast ship," he agreed readily.

A thought occurred to her. "Shit," she cursed. All he did was glance over at her, brow raised in question. He couldn't recall hearing her curse previously. "If they see me, I'm dead," Mara admitted. "My brother won't tolerate me getting caught and word _will _get back to him." Their branch was terrifyingly efficient with information.

Law nodded as the ship closed in. They could see the faces of the men on the other deck clearly. "Kill them all!" He ordered his crew. "Don't let a single man live!" Cheers of agreement sprang up all around them. The ship came with range. "Board!"

Mara was quick to scamper across the marine ship with the Heart Pirates. The knives she kept in her clothes seemed to materialize in her hands when the first marine struck at her. The woman dodged easily and caught the man in the neck. She continued from her strike into a roll, going right between two more, and coming up directly behind their backs. They fell to her blades without challenge.

A blood bath was taking place aboard the deck of the marine ship. Law himself didn't bother getting involved, instead standing with his arms crossed aboard his own vessel. His crew needed to let off steam every once in a while and letting them take out a marine ship on their own was a great way to do it. He watched, interested, as Mara cut down man after man as if they weren't supposed to be allies.

The woman was skilled, he had to admit it. What she clearly lacked in physical strength, she made up for with her dexterity. She was constantly on the move, be it tumbling or flipping, and her slices always proved fatal. A slash to the jugular here, a stab to the heart there, the occasional hamstring and simultaneous upward stab…

The noticeable click of a gun cocking was the only warning Mara had. She spun on her heel to face the marine, only to find that he was too far away. She would never make it to him before he pulled the trigger, and his aim looked perfect.

It took all of her willpower to refrain from cocking her head to the side. A curious thought occurred to her. She froze as if in fear, eyeing the gun with hidden interest. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Law's eyes narrow into dangerous slits.

The shot rang out.

Mara sucked in the breath she had been holding before the grin spread across her face. The marine looked absolutely horrified as a marine who had been fighting behind her dropped dead. She was on the man before he could recover.

The shot had been perfect. Too perfect. It had gone right through where her heart _should _have been, had she still had possession of it. The marine fell to the floor, blood seeping from the cut on his throat, nothing but surprise coating his face. At least something about this was going in her favor. Mara had to admit, it was pretty convenient.

The small almost fatal incident didn't deter her from running headlong back into the fray. If anything, it spurred her on. She gracefully flipped over a man, landing upside down on her hands behind him, before reversing her momentum and launching herself back up so that she was practically kneeling on his shoulders. A quick jerk and he was down, too.

"Below decks!" She heard Penguin shout. "Get them all!" She looked around to see that all the marines on the deck were dead, and the Heart Pirates were rushing through a door on the far side.

"Miss Mara." The woman paused her steps, having been about to follow the crew into the depths of the ship.

"Yes, Captain Trafalgar?" Mara asked, going to the railing and leaning on it to look over the side at the doctor.

"Leave this to my crew."

So he didn't want her out of his sight. Without a word, she vaulted over the railing and onto the deck of the submarine. Not very surprising, all things considered. He did the same thing with her sleeping arrangements. And, well, the arrangements for everything else.

Law held out his hand and she placed her daggers in it. "Where were you keeping these?" He asked her curiously, examining the blades. They were thin -likely so they were easier to hide-, long, and, he tapped the tip lightly, really sharp if the small spot of blood was any indication.

There was a noncommittal shrug. "Around."

"Hm." His gaze flickered from the blades to her, trying to discern where she could have possibly concealed them. When he came up with nothing, he had to wonder… "How many do you have on you?"

Mara bit the inside of her cheek, counting silently in her head. No point in denying the fact that she was armed to the teeth, now that he'd seen some. "Perhaps… nine?" Two in each boot, two under the hem of her pants, two hidden in her belt, and a small knife nestled between her breasts. She was pretty sure that was it. Pretty sure. "You want them? 'Cause some of them have been places you don't want to go near."

Law shook his head and handed the daggers back to her. "Pirates tend to be armed," he said dryly. Mara refused to react to being called a pirate. He was probably just trying to get a rise out of her. "Though I am curious as to where you're keeping them."

While the crew was routing the marines, she figured she had some time. One by one, she pulled the daggers out until all nine were piled before her. She only hesitated when going for the one that was farthest north, but it didn't last long. He'd already seen her without much covering her upper body, reaching down her shirt wasn't that big a deal. They went back into her clothes far faster. "Looks like I got a hole in your shirt," Mara observed, looking at the bullet hole.

Law shrugged. "Better than getting a hole in my marine. I still have some things to test."

Mara clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Lovely. I look forward to messing up anything you give me." It was a privilege of hers to have an immune system that didn't work as people anticipated it would. Though in this case, she assumed that would only make her more 'interesting'.

"And I look forward to seeing how that works for you," he replied easily.

"Captain!" Bepo called. The polar bear was standing by the railing of the marine ship, waving down at Law. The noise from the bustle of Heart Pirates drifted through the door behind him and all the way to Law and Mara. "All the marines are dead!"

"Take their supplies, then sink it." The captain ordered with a careless glance.

"Aye aye, Captain!" The bear saluted.


	5. Chapter 5: Got Too Comfortable

**A/N:**

_Thank you for all the reviews I've gotten, I'm glad to hear you're all enjoying the story. I was worried it wouldn't go over well._

_So thanks and all that._

_On with the story._

* * *

**Chapter 5: Got Too Comfortable**

"So, what's with your crew avoiding me like the plague?" Mara questioned over breakfast the next morning. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, some form of egg was the general assumption.

The Heart Pirates didn't approach her unless they were intending to speak to their captain. It wasn't some kind of apprehensive, disdainful distance like she was a snake that might bite them. And it wasn't the kind of distance that said she was beneath their notice, like they were turning their noses up at her. No, it was something else entirely.

Law glanced over the rim of his glass at her, as if telling her to elaborate. "I think the only time they've bothered speaking to me is when you bring me into the conversation."

He set his cup down and nodded. "Observant." Mara just sent him a dry look. It was past the point of being observant and more just seeing the obvious, now. "They don't trust you. But since you're not being treated as an enemy, they feel that if they take the time to know you, they'll run into…" he briefly considered the word he wanted, "emotional problems in the future."

There was a minute when Mara simply stared at him. "They're worried they'll like me?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "From what I understand. I think Bepo already does." But then, he was the one that spoke with her the most, not including Law. Perhaps their concerns were justified.

From what she knew about pirates, Mara hadn't really thought that was a possibility. Pirates were supposed to be cruel nearly demonic beings, weren't they? Law only partially fit that bill, she supposed. He had fixed her up without doing anything weird. Well, she hoped that was the case. She plopped her elbow on the table and rested her temple in her hand. "I don't get you pirates."

"The world isn't as black and white as you've been taught."

That was obvious, of course. "I suppose it isn't," she conceded, lifting her fork to take another bite. Her hand froze halfway to her mouth, eyes widening in horror. "Shit." The utensil clattered to her plate, sending little bits of egg scattering.

Law's head cocked to the side ever so slightly. There was no way... and yet… When she looked to him, absolutely furious, he met her gaze appreciatively. He had underestimated her.

Even as she sat there, she could feel it. Something was coursing through her system, changing things, rearranging them to fit its pattern. It bothered her how far the chemical had gotten without her noticing it. She always knew when something was wrong inside her body. In her opinion, that was the most important thing she learned from Cipher Pol.

This time it failed her. She was alerted to the problem too late to do anything about it. "What the hell did you do to me?" As she spoke, the tone of her voice changed. Starting out furious, it slowly shifted into… happiness? Why did she feel ridiculously happy all of a sudden? A trickle of anger entered her mind at the thought.

What the hell was wrong with her? In her mind, she knew exactly what she _should_ be feeling. She should be angry and terrified. But for some reason she was happy and annoyed. And as the need for anger rose, her happiness made her almost giddy. When she spoke again, she was practically laughing. "What did you do to me?" Mara repeated.

"Not what I was intending to," Law muttered, watching the emotions play over her face with interest. This was certainly a spin he hadn't expected the experiment to take.

A wave of curiosity washed over her. She was relieved that the emotion at least fit the situation, even if it wasn't the correct one. "What do you mean?" Quick as a whip, his hand lashed out and grabbed her chin as he leaned across the table and examined her eyes more closely. There was that flash of anger she had wanted two minutes ago. Mara shook his hand away and sat back, eyeing him in annoyance. "What was that about?"

Law sat back down, steepled his fingers, and rested his chin on top. "Testing your emotional reactions." This was definitely not the effect the drug was supposed to have. On the upside, at least the heated glare he was getting proved part of his experiment was successful. So that was good.

"Shouldn't you already know what it does?" Mara asked happily. No, she was supposed to be irritated! Why weren't her emotions acting right?

"It would seem your body reacts differently to foreign chemicals," Law responded at length. That was something he would have to keep in mind. He pulled a small, unlabeled vial from his pocket and examined it as if it would tell him something. '

"Then what was it supposed to do?"

Law chuckled. "If I told you that, I wouldn't be able to try it again in the future." And it would mess up the part of the experiment that had actually worked.

A little bit of anger mixed with a crap ton of happiness flooded her system. It was becoming difficult to glare at him, so she settled with frowning. With all the anger she could muster, which wasn't a lot considering when she wanted to be angry she turned happy, she stood and attempted to stalk towards the door. She had to fight with her legs every step of the way to not start skipping.

"Where are you going?" Law asked, amused by the odd little walk she had adopted.

"Away from you and your pirates." Her tone was much lighter than the snap she wanted. It made her happy and curious when he stood to follow her.

Law took a quick look around the galley as he followed Mara out the door. The majority of his nakama were sniggering into their food, wide grins on their faces. He couldn't help when his smirk reappeared. "I can't say I've ever seen you so happy," he called lightly, easily catching up to her.

"Can't say I have either," she replied around a wide smile. Damn. Definitely not what she wanted. "How long is this going to last?"

That was hard to say, since she wasn't reacting properly in the first place. "We'll have to wait and find out." Hopefully long enough to make sense of her new emotions. Mara pulled open the door to the Captain's Quarters and walked in, mouth firmly closed. "What are you doing?"

The woman sent him a delighted look. "I'm going to do something safe before emotions that I don't want to deal with show up." She pulled a book from his shelf. "Like read a book."

It was becoming easier to see what was changing to what, though there didn't seem to a rhyme or reason to it. Anger was becoming happiness, clearly. He slammed the door behind him and she whipped around, annoyed. Alright, so fear -probably- had become anger. That particular one was more beneficial to her. He held his hands up in defense when she continued to glower at him. "Testing."

"Stop it." Mara went and plopped down on her bed. "I just want to wait this out."

Instead of taking a seat as well, Law stood in the center of the room, arms crossed. "What emotion are you afraid of finding?" Mara didn't reply, instead burying her face in the book she wasn't bothering to actually read, her expression serene.

He considered the action and the displayed emotion for a few seconds. If he had to choose, he would label the emotion as contentment or something along those lines. But what was it covering? Based on the conversation, he could only assume it was embarrassment or something. That was shame. It was always amusing to see pink on her cheeks.

"Go away, Captain Trafalgar," she murmured, unable to muster any bite to her words.

Instead of doing that, he strode forward and got right in her face. Her serene expression turned uninterested and she wasn't able to stop her eyes from drifting to look somewhere else. That was an interesting reaction. He had kind of figured she would become happy (or, really, angry) again at his close proximity. What did her boredom mean?

Law placed his hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him. If it was possible, she just looked even more bored, giving him an incredibly dull expression. "Hm." Even if this wasn't what the drug was intended to do, it was still a rather fascinating alternative. Plus that extra little chemical helped. "Are you embarrassed, perhaps?"

"You have fun with the weirdest things," Mara muttered indifferently.

Law nodded to himself. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." One of those two emotions, contentment or boredom, meant embarrassed.

"How are you even going to know if you've found what you're looking for?" She questioned him, her tone bordering on contently pleased.

The captain stepped back and went to crouch by his bookshelf, fingers skimming along the spines. "I'm not looking for anything."

Her eyes fixed to his back, raking across his figure appraisingly. Well shit. On the upside, when she realized what she was doing she went straight back to serene, heaving a contented sigh. Which of course made him turn and look at her. Instead of saying anything, he smirked and went back to looking over the books.

That, in turn, made her eyes shoot right back to him. The way he was crouched showed the outline of his long legs nicely, and the hoodie rose up his back as he hunched over his knees. His tanned skin peeked out under the edge of the cloth, showing off his lower back. One arm, which was perched palm down on his knee, gave her a view of his tattoos, something she hadn't bothered to really look at before. The dark markings etched into his skin looked good.

He pulled a rather small book from the shelf and went over to his desk chair to sit, legs propped up on the desk. The urge to be near him overwhelmed Mara. She gripped her book harder and shoved her face into its pages.

This had to stop. Like now.

"Are you ever going to tell me what the drug was supposed to do?" She questioned lightly, flipping a page to figure out what she was looking at. It was some kind of medical book. Beyond that, she had no idea.

"Only if you tell me why you got embarrassed a minute ago," Law responded, flipping quickly through his own book.

"I don't recall _feeling_ embarrassed," came the innocent reply. Good. That was still under control.

"I don't imagine you would. Serenity appears to be what you _would_ recall feeling." He marked something on a scrap of paper sitting beside his feet.

"Alright, fine. I found that emotion I didn't want to find," Mara informed him. "Your turn."

His chair swiveled around and he locked his dark grey eyes with her navy ones. "Oh no, I don't think so, Miss Mara. You'll have to be more specific than that."

She smiled at him, wishing desperately she could pull it down into a frown. "Let's get something straight right now. I tell you, you tell me, then you leave me alone until this crap wears off, yeah?"

That didn't sound very fun. But Law wanted to at least keep some semblance of peace between them when things went back to normal. He leaned over and wrote several more things on the paper. "Alright. Come over here."

Curiously, Mara stood and approached, glancing over his shoulder at the paper. It was a list of emotions. "What it that?"

Happiness - Anger - Fear Contentment - Embarrassment Curiosity Boredom

"Your emotions. From what I've observed, they're functioning as if they were a wheel. The drug you ingested simply turned the wheel one degree." He tapped the paper with his pencil. "When you feel the one, the emotion to its left is triggered instead," Law explained. "You fill out the missing links, then we'll go from there."

"You're keeping a record of this?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course I am. It was an experiment."

They stared at each other a moment before she took the pencil from his hand and pushed his chair away so she could get at the paper. Feeling his eyes on the back of her neck, she erased several of the words to make room. After she was pleased with the list, she chucked the pencil onto the desk and handed him the result.

Happiness - Anger - Fear - Unknown - Contentment - Embarrassment - Boredom - Desire - Curiosity - Apprehension

Law's brow rose in interest as he looked over the new information. His eyes flickered over to the bookcase then to her, understanding in his smoky orbs. "I see." When she got curious about what he was doing by the bookcase, it had triggered… Oh my.

"And before you ask, the reason it didn't work right is simple," Mara added, trying to keep herself from feeling any emotion at all. "My immune system is screwed seven ways to Sunday from all my martial training." Mostly because the people she worked with were crazy and ingested things purely to gain immunities to them.

Once again, he filed that bit of information away for later use. It made him wonder how she would react to several of the other things he had stored in the cabinets of his medical bay.

"Hop to it, Captain Trafalgar. What'd you put in me?" Poor choice of words, but she refused to correct herself. The curiosity she wished she felt was begging to turn that innuendo into a poorly conceived pick-up line.

"It was meant to lower your barriers, make you express your emotions without you being able to reign them in." He let it sink in, watching the messed up emotions crossing her face. "You're remarkably good at hiding them."

"There's a reason for that," she murmured, lips pulling into a smile yet again. Hiding one's emotions was a form of defense, purposefully keeping the person from letting others get under their skin and into their head. Like her brother did frequently, and like Captain Trafalgar was doing now.

"It seems that the extra bit I put in to lower your walls still partially got through," Law continued. "You're emoting a great deal today. It's likely that even when the chemicals messing with your emotions wear off, you'll still be expressively emoting."

"Watch me emote my foot up your-"

Law clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes dancing. "Language, Miss Mara."

"Shut the hell up, Captain Trafalgar."


	6. Chapter 6: Dead Woman Walking

**Chapter 6: Dead Woman Walking**

The silence, for some reason, was deafening. It pounded in her ears, beat against her heart. Law was sitting on his bed, reading a book. She hadn't gotten a good look at what exactly it was, but she assumed it was something medical based. Something that told him better ways to use his powers. Something that was going to make Mara's life worse. Again.

At least the drug that had 'spun her emotion wheel' wore off. Dealing with the messed up emotions was really tiring. And infuriating. That other one, the one forcing her to not have so many emotional boundaries, could still be there. It was difficult to tell because it apparently also stopped her from noticing anything was wrong, or so Law explained.

Mara just lay there staring at the ceiling. Where was this taking her life? She had already been in a terrible situation, but now it seemed she was in a far worse one. When this pirate was done with her, whatever that entailed, there was no way she would just get her heart back and be allowed to leave.

There was little doubt in her mind that she would die.

If she ran, she would die. If he got bored with her, she would die. If some random marine brought word back to Marineford, she would die. When her absence stretched for too long and her brother noticed, she would die. And even if she somehow managed to escape, she would just end up getting executed for piracy.

If that were the case, why was she bothering to live? Her current actions were hurting the 'peace of the world'. Hurting all she ever learned was good and right and worth protecting. Nothing positive could ever come from her life anymore. In an effort to prolong a life that no longer held meaning, Mara was being used by a pirate. Had killed marines.

Mara Reade was as good as a walking corpse. The only possible good thing she could do with her life now was slip a dagger into Trafalgar Law's ribcage. Get rid of one notoriously dangerous man, likely disbanding his crew in the process. With all else going on in her head, at least this one small thought comforted her. Idly, her fingers played with the hilt of the blades hidden beneath the hem of her pants.

"I would not consider that, Miss Mara."

Her fingers didn't leave the hilt of her blades. "How could you possibly know what I'm thinking about, Captain Trafalgar?"

"I've been expecting something of the sort for days now," he admitted, not looking up from the pages of his book. "You can't kill me."

Mara let out a sigh of frustration. "What do you want me to do? What do you even want from me?" Part of her didn't want to know. The other part was desperate to know.

"I want nothing in particular." He sat up and put his book down, his legs dangling off the bed and allowing his feet to rest on the floor. He folded his hands in the space between his legs. "You simply caught my curiosity."

It wasn't like she this was new. Mara knew that. Still, her eyes clenched shut and her hands gripped the hilts of her weapons tightly, as they were the bridge between life and death. "So I'm to be a toy until you're through with me." That part she already knew. "What do you plan to do with me _then_?"

Law looked at her for a long moment. "I haven't decided."

"You're lying," Mara rebutted instantly. "Efficiently, mind you, but still lying. Why can't you just tell me?" He said nothing. "I won't be used, Captain Trafalgar," she said forcefully. In one fluid motion, she was on her feet with her weapons out, blades glinting dangerously in the dim light.

The captain eyed her. This wasn't completely unexpected, especially given today's events. She had finally found her resolve after half a week and an experiment that, apparently, pushed her too far. Her pride was something entirely new to him, not seeming to have any form of rhyme or reason. It just kind of switched on and off randomly. "You will lose," Law said easily, expression unreadable.

Yeah, that wasn't new either. But she had never intended to win anything here today, so that didn't really matter. Mara glared at him with an intensity he hadn't seen since the first night. There was that pride again. "You will have to kill me!"

Finally, Law stood. "Surely you don't really think that. I _am _a doctor. I know how to subdue someone without killing them."

Sapphire eyes dropped to the box sitting behind the pirate near the lamp. There was no way she would be able to get to it before he stopped her. Faster than it took for the average person to blink, the blade of her dagger drew across her throat.

Only to stop millimeters from her flesh. The hand gripping her wrist was holding tight enough to bruise. Law's face was an inch from hers, his eyes matching her intensity. "Refrain from hurting yourself in the presence of a doctor."

Mara's eyes narrowed dangerously. "A doctor who is a pirate had no right to say that." And promptly clamped her mouth shut.

His hand shot out and the edge of his hand caught between her teeth. Navy eyes flared in outrage. "Now, now. We don't bite our tongues either."

Her bladed hands thrashed wildly but he caught both of them in one hand. He pushed her until her back connected with the wall, rather forcefully knocking the wind from her lungs, and he pinned the troublesome appendages above her head. Applying enough pressure to the correct parts of her wrist made her hands open, and the weapons fell to the floor with a clatter. Her outraged cry came out muffled against his hand.

"Stop trying to die," Law ordered firmly. "When you die, that's it. There's no more. So stop this foolishness now." He lifted the hand in her mouth enough to let her speak, but not far enough away to where she'd be able to effectively try something. Little red marks dotted his hand where her teeth had dug into his skin.

"I'm just going to die later!" She shouted at him. "No matter how this plays out, it ends with my death! If I run away, I die! If I kill you, I die! If I get sent back to the base, I die! When you tire of me, I die! Why should I work for a pirate in the meantime?!"

"I never said I intended to kill you."

Mara glared at him hatefully. "Don't insult my intelligence. After all I'll have seen aboard this ship, how could you possibly let me go back to the marines?" There was no way she'd be able to survive. To think that he would insult her in such a way..!

His thumb rubbed the inside of her wrist in a calming way. "Who says that if I let you go, you have to go back to the base?"

Mara scoffed. "They'd hunt me down." Probably instantaneously.

"And if they couldn't?"

The question took her aback. What the hell did he mean by that? She took the time to look at him. Really look at him. From what she could tell, he was being serious. "How the hell can I possibly be this interesting?"

Law merely smiled lazily at her, completely ignoring her question. "Stop being stubborn. Why are you fighting the idea of being free?"

"It's not being stubborn," Mara protested, irritated. "It's being realistic." Depressingly realistic, given, but realistic nonetheless.

The captain shrugged. "Who knows? You may just walk away unharmed." It was highly unlikely, but hey, the possibility was there. Law would give it a… hm… five percent chance? But if it got her to calm the hell down…

Mara frowned. For some reason, she wanted to believe it was possible, however improbable the notion was. It just went to show how far she was falling. "What are the chances of that?"

"That would depend on you, Miss Mara." He released her and dropped his hands, allowing them to graze down her forearms as he did so. Keeping them close by in case he needed to take action fast. "Are we done harming ourselves, now?"

In her heart, Mara knew that absolutely nothing had been solved. Absolutely nothing had changed. And yet, she couldn't help but feel like they somehow had. Her eyes drifted to the two blades on the floor behind the captain. It was difficult to say if she wished she had succeeded or not. "Yes."

Law nodded in satisfaction, pleased that she was placated. Well, for the time being, anyway. That pride of hers could rear its head at literally any time. "Good. Then you should get some rest. We'll be arriving in Sabaody Archipelago tomorrow morning and all of the Supernovas will be there. Might be something you want your strength for."

Her mind felt like it was moving slowly. "The Supernovas? All of them?"

"That's what the paper said," he confirmed.

Mara groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. "I'm dead. The agents following those guys are going to see me and know what happened." And there would be eight of them. More than enough to fix her predicament in a permanent way.

His smile darkened in a frightening and, dare she think it, deeply attractive way. There was no way to read what was going on behind those beautiful gray eyes. "No one will be able to lay a hand on you. You'll be my side the entire time, Miss Mara."

A small smile came onto her lips and she felt the desire to place her hand on the side of his face, which she did. His smile didn't leave, but it turned rather inquisitive. "I really don't want to know what that smile means." Because that would make her feel like an accomplice to something terrible. "But thank you."


	7. Chapter 7: Supernova, X Drake

**Chapter 7: Supernova, X Drake**

Mara took the hand offered to her by the pirate without flinching or acting like it was out of the ordinary. Law's lazy smile grew slightly at that as he helped her step down from the submarine. "Before we go look for these 'Supernovas', we'll get you some new clothes."

A small amount of humor traced her gaze. "What, you don't like me looking like a government agent who just crawled out of bed with you?" She asked sarcastically, motioning to the yellow and black hoodie she was still wearing.

The smile turned into a smirk. "I have no problem with it, Miss Mara. However, I thought you might like to preserve your dignity."

"What a gentleman." It was great to have her sarcasm back. He released her hand and waved for her to follow him. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi took up the positions behind the two, flanking them and making Law look like he was the captain he was.

The troupe moved into town at a reasonable pace, looking for a clothing shop that would be suitable. Mara didn't really care what she wore. She never had. But the more she looked like she belonged next the captain, the more likely the marines were to not even notice her.

It took them about half an hour to get to a grove that apparently was for shopping. They turned down a street and found it bustling with people, signs and stores lining the street. Law motioned to it. "Get whatever you want."

Mara didn't question him, though she had expected him to give her some form of limit. Some incredibly low limit. She picked the most normal store she could find and entered. Law motioned for his crew to wait for them outside and followed her in, his long sword, a nodachi if she wasn't mistaken, resting on his shoulder in the most natural and comfortable way.

The government agent tried valiantly to ignore the interested looks of many of the woman in the store. All their eyes, discreetly and otherwise, turned to Law instantly. Mara kept her irritated frown in check and went over to one of the walls to look at the clothes on display.

Law leaned against the wall in the most casual way and looked out across the room. She could feel the eyes turn elsewhere, a good deal of them anyway, as he looked at them. The excited murmurs started up at the same time, as the women commented on how he had looked right at them.

Mara's trained ears could hear them easily. "You look like you come into women's clothing stores often," she shot at him, attempting to ignore the rabble. "Got a secret your crew should know about, hm, Captain Trafalgar?"

"I like to think we're all on the same page," Law replied easily, eyes still scanning. "You, however, look so uncomfortable you don't know what to do with yourself."

A frown tugged at her lips. Nothing. Nothing bothered this man. "I don't have much reason to buy clothes. What I usually wear is provided for me."

That was interesting. And baitable. "Even the clothes you sleep in?" There was a pause as she examined several shirts in front of her. When she didn't answer, he looked over to her curiously. The woman was studiously ignoring him, giving the shirts far more attention than they needed. She mumbled something incoherently into the shirt rack. He leaned to the side, cupping a hand around his ear. "What was that?"

To his surprise, a pink tint rose to her cheeks. "I said, I normally don't wear anything when I sleep. It's easier. And no, you're not allowed to make a snide comment."

That painted quite the picture. Law chuckled. "I'm sure your coworkers loved you."

Mara rolled her eyes, stubbornly not looking at him. "Didn't I just say no snide comments?"

"I'm pretty sure I make the rules here."

"That explains why you're a pirate," she muttered, effectively annoyed.

A loud fit of giggles coming from the store behind her had her turning. Two young women, a cute red-head and blond, were eyeing Law, whispering behind raised hands. Mara's rifling through the clothes became jerky and gradually more violent the more she heard. Finally, she just pulled some things out and stalked to the changing room.

The captain's brows rose in interest as he watched the woman from the corner of his eye. What had brought about this sudden bout of anger? He didn't follow her, instead choosing to stay and observe the room. Something here had changed something important within his little agent. All he could see was women doing women things.

Mara yanked the yellow and black shirt over her head and threw it on the floor as if it were all those women out there. As if it were Trafalgar Law. Out of interest to keep hiding the obvious hole in her chest, she had gotten another baggy t-shirt.

This one was a rich blue with swirling black markings going up the right side. Though it was baggy, it cut off less than an inch below her breasts and showed of the skin tight black shirt she still wore beneath. She changed her tight black sneaking pants for a slightly looser variety, same color. Underneath, she tucked black boots that rose to the top of her shin. The heels on the boots were no more than two inches, so it still gave her good reign to fight.

Quickly, she removed the weapons from her previous clothes and tucked them into the new ones. They seemed to hide better in the looser fitting clothes; not that anyone had really noticed they were there in the tight ones.

Her eyes fell onto the yellow shirt on the floor as she gathered up her things. A wave of guilt crashed over her at the sight of half of the rumpled Jolly Roger grinning out at her. It just looked… wrong, seeing it like that.

That such a thing made her feel guilty was absurd. And yet…

Law's attention gravitated to Mara as she departed the dressing room in her new clothes. He let out low, quiet whistle. He had to admit, the woman was damn attractive. Her steps to him were full of conflict and uncertainty, he noted. When she got to him, she held something out.

It was his shirt. Folded so careful and neat that it stunned him from saying anything sarcastic. His own Jolly Roger grinned up at him from the very center, all wrinkles meticulously smoothed out of it. He could barely see the stitched up hole from where she had been shot in the heart.

"How does this look?" Mara asked, unable to keep the insecurity from her voice despite the valiant effort she put forth to hide it.

Law noted the light pink tint to her cheeks and his smile grew. He liked how it looked on her. But what had caused this new sudden change? "Perfect, Miss Mara. Shall we go?" He took hold of her elbow and steered her from the store.

"H-hey!" A man called just before they got to the door. "Ma'am, you have to pay for those!" He insisted. The store manager.

Without even thinking about it, Mara took the shirt from Law's hand. Shit was about to go down and the man would need the appendage. Law noted the action even though the woman herself didn't. "Room."

The manager stepped back in shock and fear as a blue dome covered the entire room. Cries of alarm could be heard from the many clothes racks behind him. "What?" Mara blinked in confusion as the dome separated her from the captain, the edge of it not even three inches from her nose.

Law sliced the air before moving his hands in front of him, swirling them around each other. "Shambles." If there were cries of alarm before, they were pure distress now. Body parts were flying everywhere and attaching to everything.

The 'room' disappeared after a minute and Law turned, took his shirt from Mara, and continued to lead her from the store. "Shall we?"

"Where's my arm?!" They could hear a woman yell.

"Your arm? Where's my body?!" Another shrieked.

"Why do I have so many heads?!" A third cried in alarm, tears creeping into her voice. Multiple voices rang out from the same location as they yelled in fear, realizing they were only a stack of heads.

Mara simply shook her head. "Well, there's the Surgeon of Death I've heard so much about. I was beginning to wonder."

"Shachi." Law tossed the shirt to the man before taking Mara's older clothes and doing the same. "Do me a favor and take these back to the ship, would you?"

"Yes, captain!" The man saluted and darted off, disappearing into the crowd that had appeared around the store.

The people milling about went white when the Heart Pirates captain swept his eyes across them. "I would hate to disappoint you, Miss Mara," he said in response to her earlier comment. They led his three crew members across several streets crowded with milling people.

Mara followed him, looking about with a wonder she had never been allowed before. Sure, she'd been to the island before. But she had never gotten the chance to really look at it without fear of messing up some job or such.

Mara glanced into the buildings as they passed. Who knew what kinds of things or people were in them? A wisp of a shadow caught her attention. "Was that..?"

"Hm?" Law stopped and gave her his full attention. When she didn't respond right away, he sat down on a box nearby, folded his hands in the gap between his legs, silently telling her they weren't leaving if she didn't talk.

"Two Supernovas are nearby," Mara informed him, staring at the spot she knew Agents Deneir and Crova to have been mere seconds ago. Knowing the agents that were around also told her exactly which rookies were in the area, but now they knew about Law as well.

"Oh really?" Law mused, still not looking like he planned to move.

Mara heaved a sigh and went to stand next to the box. Where she was now was just getting in the way of the people in the street. "Is there a reason we're sitting here?"

"Curiosity."

That didn't help, seeing as it pretty much drove everything he did the past few days.

"The monk's gone wild!" Someone shouted. Based on Agent Deneir and the title used, Mara assumed this to mean Urouge, the rookie from a sky island.

"Go wild… in the New World!" They heard a man shout forcefully as the sound of metal hitting metal resounded.

"The former Marine Officer Drake, huh…" A deeper male voice commented.

The first man gave off an amused chuckle. "That was a narrow escape from death."

"Sounds like you were right," Law noted, his smile darkening. They could see the pirate named Drake heading in their direction, easily recognized from his wanted poster.

The man was more built than Law, his cape doing little to cover up the obvious muscle of his stomach.A feathered cap adorned his head as well as a black mask, and tight pants clung to his legs. Mara had heard he used to be a member of the marines, back in the day.

"And I was having such a nice time…" Law drawled, catching the man's immediate attention. "Drake…! How many people did you kill?" The look on his face held only dark amusement.

Drake eyed the group. "None," he admitted. "I just stopped Kid's first mate and Urouge from killing each other. The island's getting rowdier as more time passes."

Mara took her eyes off the pirate long enough to scan the area and find where Agent Crova was hiding. He was a man larger than her, dressed in similar black attire to what Mara had been originally caught in. They didn't need to blend in because their ability made it difficult for people to find them, unless either their senses were honed enough or they knew what they were looking for.

The captive agent had both of the above criteria, and so was able to see him easily, sitting atop a nearby building. His eyes were darting quickly between her and Drake in an attempt to keep all important subjects within sight at all times.

"So I noticed." Law's sharp senses caught Mara's fixed gaze with ease. His dark grey eyes slid up to the building she had in her sights. With her there to guide his gaze, he saw Crova as instantly as she had.

The man didn't seem to notice that the Law saw him, he was too busy looking at the his own Supernova and his colleague. "Something interesting, Trafalgar?" Drake questioned in veiled annoyance, turning to scan the other side of the street.

Crova locked onto Law then and his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as the situation clicked together slowly in his head. The man reached for his belt, retrieving his gun carefully, his sights never wavering from Mara.

Law had to stop the smile from leaving his face with a considerable amount of effort. Currently, Mara was his. No one took what was his. "You would be better off to rid yourself of the World Government's agent that's following you." He slowly nodded his head to Crova and gave the agent a wicked smile.

The other Supernova whirled around, eyes darting for several seconds before they fixed on the armed agent. Drake leapt to the man without delay, drawing his sword before his feet had even left the ground.

Law stood and looked to his own agent, to the sounds of a man's startled noise followed by a pained cry. Mara stood frozen, staring at Drake's back, which blocked the sight of Crova from her. Her eyes were wide with alarm.

"Time to go see the sights," Law said to her. She didn't move. In a move that looked both natural and carefree, he slung an arm around her shoulders and forcibly steered her from the scene. "No need to stick around here any longer."

"…Crova…" Mara murmured, looking over her shoulder at the rooftop. Drake had already jumped back to the ground and was sheathing his sword, looking at her with suddenly knowing eyes.

"He was going to kill you," Law reminded her lightly, bringing her eyes back around front.

Mara stiffened when she realized how they were walking. He either didn't care or didn't notice her reaction. She assumed the former. He tried to get under her skin as much as she tried to get under his, just with a different strategy. "He was…"

"A friend?" The captain guessed.

Mara shook her head. No, he wasn't a friend. She hadn't talked to anyone in the base long enough for that to happen. She was just there to get the job done. "I worked with him once. We didn't have any problems, but…" But she worked with him. Indirectly, she had killed someone on her team.

"I'll have to keep my eye out for more, if that's how your branch handles these things." The code of killing captured allies would definitely prove troublesome. "We'll have shots coming from everywhere with all of these rookies together." Despite what he said, he remained completely at ease. She could feel it from the contact he was keeping with her.

"Are you going to inform all of them of their shadows, then?" Mara asked. She didn't know what answer she was hoping for.

Law tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, showing his frightening smirk. "If you don't want them to die, you better hope we don't run into them, Miss Mara."

A shiver ran up her spine, both from the look and the words that accompanied it. Those people may not have been her friends, but she still felt bad for putting them in such imminent danger. "They're only aiming to kill _me_. They're not after you or the other Supernovas."

"Oh, I'm fully aware of that." He turned to look forward. "That's why they have to die. People need to know not to touch the things under the protection of my flag."

"Captain Trafalgar…" Mara muttered, unsure of how to feel about it. After that, neither spoke. The two behind them were silent for a long while as well, all heading down the groves. Though Mara had no chance to examine these groves in detail in the past, she didn't even notice their passing now.

Her thoughts were consumed by the man who had his arm slung around her shoulders. Not only was she captured by him but she was protected from her own organization by him. It was difficult to tell how she felt about the situation anymore. On the one hand, it was good. It kept her from dying.

On the other hand, it kind of made her a traitor.

Shachi reappeared somewhere around Grove Five. They could hear him and Penguin speaking low, hushed tones. Neither of them bothered to listen to what he was saying. If it was important, the loyal pirate would inform his captain. If it wasn't, he would do as he was now.

Mara's attention came back only when they arrived at where they had apparently been heading. "The Human Auction House?" She questioned at length, eyeing the faded 'Human' sign. What on earth were they doing there?

"Call it 'morbid curiosity'," Law replied, pulling her inside the grand front door.


	8. Chapter 8: Supernova, Eustass Kid

**Chapter 8: Supernova, Eustass Kid**

There were a decent number of people milling about inside the auction house, grabbing seats and generally chatting with one another. The pirates strode forward through the crowd, not bothering to get a paddle. It wasn't like they were planning on buying anyone.

Finally, Law took his arm from Mara and sat on one of the benches, his arms draped over the back and his legs crossed in a picture of careless comfort. Bepo took a seat on the bench behind his captain, placing himself directly behind his outstretched left arm. His captain's nodachi was in his left hand, his right propping up his chin on the bench Law was resting on.

Shachi did the same on the right, and Penguin took his spot on the same bench as the captain, sitting just to the left of where his left hand rested. The seating arrangement looked incredibly natural to Mara, and it was clear to her where she was supposed to seat herself. Like Penguin, only right of the captain's right hand. Bepo held onto his captain's

Law sent her a disarming smile that she rolled her eyes to. The man could look as innocent as he wanted. It wouldn't change the way she or the world looked at him, like he was plotting something terrible to do to everyone in the room.

Mara sat down where she was supposed to, crossing her arms and legs and she leaned back into the bench. More and more people were filing in. The sheer amount was disgusting. "This place is awful."

"That's your higher-ups your badmouthing," Law reminded her, his voice souring as he continued, "They turn a blind eye to this place simply because a Shichibukai owns it."

Mara said nothing, looking at the man with a knowing gaze. She had read his file extensively before her mission and knew that he had once been on the crew of the Shichibukai who owned the place, Donquixote Doflamingo. Agents had watched that crew as well, back in the day. What had that been? Ten, fifteen years ago? The man had been a Shichibukai for something like eight years already.

The man was an utter nut job. Nothing fazed him, but in a completely different way than Law. Doflamingo was always smiling and, from what Mara had seen and read, never worried about anything. He was probably the most carefree man on the ocean.

Law smiled her look off as if the knowledge meant nothing to him at all. "Are you saying you don't like how your government runs things, Miss Mara?"

Mara's lips pulled into a tight line. How was she supposed to answer that when it was true? She couldn't openly admit that to the pirate who had stolen her life and put it on display. Unconsciously, her eyes went to the box dangling from his waist and she clenched her teeth. "Hardly."

The pirate captain's smile turned into a smirk. He was well aware of her inner battle, and he knew from the look on her face that had hit the nail on the head. "Looks like the place is almost full," he commented, choosing to let her fight herself instead of him.

She glanced around. Yeah, it _was_ filling up pretty fast. There were almost no seats left, except perhaps for the ones in the Heart Pirates immediate vicinity. Either they recognized the dangerous group or they had enough sense to see the threat on its own.

A flash of gold and black flashed across Mara's peripheral vision and her eyes swung to the side and locked onto the woman standing by the far wall. She was gorgeous and curvy, with long cascading golden hair. She wore the exact same clothes as the ones Mara had originally been caught in. Agent Zen. 'Shit', she cursed mentally, forcing herself to look away. She knew exactly who was in the auction house now and it didn't please her in the least.

As if to confirm what she already knew, she heard the male voice speak up behind her. "'Tenryuubito'..! 'Slaves'… 'Human Shops'…" Mara could just feel Law listening in as well. "Placed up against the 'purity' of these 'upper classes'… why, the villains of the world look positively humane in comparison."

"That's rich, coming from him," Mara muttered, earning a quiet chuckle from the pirate beside her. Neither turned to look. They didn't need to.

"It's because the world's in the hands of scum like them that it's screwed all to hell…" The man continued. "Don't they even realize that? I mean, we're not the nicest of guys, but at least we have our charming side, ain't that right, Killer?"

Mara had to concentrate to hold back the sarcastic snort threatening to erupt as another man, Killer, replied, "Absolutely…"

"Maybe if someone interesting shows up, we should buy 'em, eh?" The first man let out a maliciously amused laugh.

"Boss Kid, look over there…" A third man spoke up.

"Hm?" The first man, Kid, took a moment to look. "Now, that face looks familiar. That's the guy from the North Blue, with the two-hundred-million bounty… Trafalgar Law. I've heard rumors about him, and they weren't pleasant."

Law's smirk turned confident, as if he owned the entire room. But it wasn't cocky. Mara was amazed at how he pulled off the distinction. He turned only his head to face Kid and lifted his right hand from the bench just long enough to give the other captain the finger. Mara couldn't help the chuckle this time. Watching pirates interact was proving more entertaining than she originally thought.

"His manners aren't too good either," Kid added, turning his head to the side and looking down at the man. Mara turned to look at the other captain. She had never personally seen him before, but he was one of the three rookies that she had bothered to read up on.

Kid was a pale, muscular man with bright red hair, black circles around his dark eyes, and dark purple lips. He was dressed in an extravagant attire consisting of black and yellow lizard-print pants with a red fringe and a large fur captain's coat over his bare muscular torso. The dark brown coat was adorned with spikes on its shoulders lined in maroon. A pair of studded, square shaped goggles sat on his forehead, nestled into his fiery hair.

Her eyes drifted over the rest of the crew as well. All were dressed equally eccentric, with a sort of heavy metal theme going on. The man directly beside Kid she knew to me the man named Killer, since she had seen his bounty poster countless time.

Killer was both a lean and lanky man. He had long wild blonde hair that fell down to his thighs. He wore a plain, white and light-blue full-head helmet with many holes in it. His black shirt had white polka-dots on it and an open collar that showed his chest, along with odd blue patterned pants. He also had a red sash tied around his waist, slightly being covered by his loose shirt.

None of the other men interested her, but she took the time to take in those two. They were threats to everyone around them, far more than any of the other rookies. Kid was worth three hundred million and then some, if she recalled correctly, and Killer was over one hundred million.

She almost didn't notice when Law began to scan the room. "Something the matter, Captain Trafalgar?" Mara questioned, turning back around in her seat, arms still stubbornly crossed over her chest.

"Checking where his agent is, nothing more, Miss Mara," Trafalgar murmured so only her and his crew could hear, head turned at an angle so the agent couldn't read his lips. So he already knew where she was.

Mara merely nodded and glanced back at Eustass 'Captain' Kid. There was no denying that he was an interesting person to look at. The tall, imposing man turned his gaze on her when he noticed her stare and she was surprised to find that his eyes were actually a deep red.

The ruby gaze swept over her as best it could while she was sitting. "I don't recall hearing about a woman, Killer." The 'Massacre Soldier' cocked his head, presumably turning his eyes on her as well.

"I'm not in his crew," Mara called lightly with a smile. For the first time in days she got to speak with someone who didn't reside in a yellow submarine.

Kid rose a nonexistent brow. "Local?"

"Victim of circumstance."

"Want a different one?" It wasn't a serious question, they both knew, they were just feeling each other out. But the effect was immediate.

The only warning Mara had was the flash of anger that went across Law's stormy orbs and a quiet growl. His right hand left the back of the bench to grab Mara around the waist and pull her closer, so that when he put his arm back, she was between where his hand rested and his torso.

Kid let out a humorous laugh. It was a good minute before he was able to speak again. "Looks like the Surgeon is possessive. I'll have to keep that in mind."

Mara didn't really have any other choice but to turn her attention away from Kid. There wasn't a whole lot that was good about the current situation, though there was one thing. At the very least, Mara didn't have to worry about Agent Zen attacking her. Yet. The auction house would be a terribly conspicuous place the kill someone subtly. Which was probably why Law hadn't murdered the other woman yet.

"Well then, everyone, we apologize for keeping you waiting!" A man called excitedly, his voice amplified by a microphone. Mara looked to the stage to see a gaudily dressed man dancing around. "In just a few moments, this regular monthly event… the Grand Grove 1 Human Auction will begin! And of course, this man will be your host! The Super Bazaar man himself… Mister… Disco!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and claps, much to Mara's revulsion, as a even gaudier man danced his way onto the stage. Disco was a thin, eccentric man who had long sapphire hair, a yellow hat, and star-shaped glasses. He also wore a purple coat and a pink scarf.

"Hey there, everyone!" Disco greeted just as enthusiastically as the former man. "Boy, have we got a quality collection of slaves here for you today! So you'd better start praying that you're the one who gets to take home the slave that catches your interest!"

Mara frowned but didn't look away. This was going to be painful to watch.

"Well then, it's time to begin the auction!" Disco announced. "Entry number one! From Toroa, in the West Blue… It's the heir to a long line of musicians - a skilled user of any number of instruments, and a proud pirate to boot!"

A man was pulled out to the center of the stage. His clothes spoke clearly of the pride Disco had mentioned, a torn tail coat with a ruffled shirt beneath.

"Give him an instrument and he's your background music… Give him a mop and he's your cleaner! And he can make some nice wine, too! It's a human male, at the prime working age of twenty five!"

Mara became hyper aware of the twenty four year old sitting beside her. That could have been him up on that stage. Her mind drifted back to the shop that morning. All of these people would probably want a man like Law.

"One hundred ninety two centimeters tall, weighing in at one hundred thirty kilos! His name is Byron! Now, I'm going to start the bidding at the low, low price of four hundred eighty thousand Beli! Anybody who's interested, raise your plates!"

All traces of amusement were gone from Law's face as the bidding began. He rested his temple on his right hand, which was balled into a fist, the elbow on the back of his bench. His eyes were darkened with hatred and disgust as he watched the proud pirate being sold to the nobles.

Mara didn't want to be there anymore. It was killing her to watch these miserable people, one after the other, come up to the stage and be bet on as if they were furniture. It was so wrong that the World Government allowed it to go on.

She didn't care that a Shichibukai owned it. He could rot in hell for what he was doing here. The World Government aligned with some pretty sick people in order to tip the power scale in their favor. It was almost funny how they relied on pirates for power.

When the women started coming out to the stage, Mara turned her head away and clenched her eyes shut. This was horrific. Law glanced over at her without moving a muscle and, without a word or acknowledgement because he knew she wouldn't accept it with one attached, he dropped the hand he was leaning his temple on to wrap around her shoulders.

He pulled her close to him, allowing her to bury her face in his hoodie, in the crook of his shoulder. The hand around her shoulder played with her long chestnut tresses lightly in an attempt to distract her.

There was no doubt in Trafalgar Law's mind what was playing out in her head. The traumatized look on her face said it all. She was picturing herself standing there, hands chained behind her back and all pride completely erased from her.

Though how she was thinking she would have ended up in that position was beyond him. Surely she wasn't thinking that if he were different, he would have put her up there for following him? A pirate was far more likely to just kill the intruder. This kind of thing wasn't common in a pirates thoughts.

The moment of clarity came with a spike of disgust. It was a wonder the thought hadn't come to him immediately. Some pirates may not jump to that line of thought, but he knew the type that would. Someone powerful. Someone cold. Someone cruel.

Someone bordering on the sociopathic.

Law seriously hoped that his conclusion was wrong. He was a _pirate_ for god's sake and he knew that threatening your little sister with slavery was deplorable. What the hell would possess someone to do something like that?

Despite her submissive position, Mara was quite clearly not freaking out. He could feel her body stoic yet relaxed beneath his fingers and there were no signs of tears or distress. She simply sat there, trying not to listen to the auction.

It was the most prideful breakdown Law had ever seen and in his pirate career, he had seen an impressive amount of breakdowns. He wasn't known for his torturous nature for nothing. Many had crumpled beneath his power.


	9. Chapter 9: Renewed Resolve

**A/N:**

_This story follows the manga as opposed to the anime, though there will be points that match the anime instead._

* * *

**Chapter 9: Renewed Resolve**

"Now then, we've got everyone nice and excited!" Disco announced proudly and dramatically.

Mara turned her head so that it was glaring at the stage, still curled into the captain's side. A look she realized was mirrored on Law's own face. It the look of a dark and dangerous man. They could hear the large door behind them open over the noise and saw the natural light from outside filtering in through the crack.

"And we have a real treasure for you here! Entry number fifteen… and its probably the world's most beautiful slave-girl! Just take a look at these glorious proportions! It's a twenty year old dancer girl by the name of Pasca! And boy, is this a good one! Beautiful dancing girl Pasca! Starting the bidding at eight hundred thousand!"

To say it bothered Mara when the bids shot straight up past a million would be an understatement. It just kept going up. There was no naivety in the agent; she knew exactly what these people wanted that woman for.

"Would your brother have done this to you, had you refused to join the government?" The question was low and directly in her ear. Law had said it so only she would hear.

Mara's jaw clenched in anger. How had this pirate figured that out? It seemed she was allowed to keep nothing private from this man. He probably thought her so foolish and weak, turning away from the sight of the auction.

It took all of the pride she could muster to yank away from his grasp and slide down the bench out of his reach. Law needed to learn to mind his own business. Luckily, people hadn't dared to sit too close to him. He had a good half of the bench to him and his crew.

Law didn't attempt to keep her close. He simply replaced his arm on the back of the bench and rested his temple on his closed fist, eyes locked on hers. Holding her gaze in the way he hadn't held onto her. His dark grey eyes said everything to her. He _knew_ he was right. There was no doubt there.

And it killed her to see that. Mara didn't want to die the possession of a pirate, but she certainly didn't want to die with that same pirate knowing every little thing about her, the things she hid from everyone she ever knew.

_"Pirates are the scum of the earth. They think they can have anything they want. It's our job to prove them wrong." _The words long gone rung in her ears loudly, forcing her to acknowledge and remember them.

Here she was, proving the exact opposite. She forced her eyes to turn cold, continued to hold his stare for a moment, then turned back to the stage, crossing her arms defiantly. That stupid cocky asshole could rot in hell for all she cared, she told herself.

"And… sold! For the extraordinary sum of seven-million-two-hundred-thousand Beli!" The dancer woman was escorted off the stage in tears. "Now, how about this next item?! Entry number sixteen! Why, it's the captain of a pirate crew!"

Mara bristled noticeably at the excitement of the crowd from that one statement. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted a rather round and disgusting looking Tenryuubito pass down the stairs. She hid her revulsion under her already-in-place cold stare and looked fixedly at the stage.

"This man's name is Lacueva! A fearsome pirate famed as a devious tactician! He holds a bounty of seventeen million Beli! And just take a look at his wonderfully honed body!" Disco showcased. The tall, built man on stage looked woozy.

'Not a wonderfully honed as Captain Trafalgar's…' Mara commented mentally. There was no way the horror didn't take over her face when she realized what she had just thought. 'Bad! Bad, Mara!' Further down the bench, Law cocked a brow at her expression, as it was clearly a reaction to her thoughts and not the auction due to the reaction delay.

"He'd make a fine 'human horse', or put him to work at manual labor, or as a sandbag! This guy has any number of uses!"

Lacueva wobbled forward, his face ashen. Blood dribbled from his parted lips and dropped to the floor. Women screamed. "What's wrong with that guy..?!" A man yelled in confusion.

The pirate captain toppled to the floor face first. "Aah! He collapsed!" The curtains swung shut over the scene with surprising speed, covering up the sight of the dying man.

'He bit his tongue,' Mara observed. 'In order to die with some pride, he bit his tongue so he could bleed to death.' She tilted her head down so she could look at her hands folded in her lap. 'He's very brave. To think I was unsuccessful when I tried that. It's disgraceful.'

Then again, there was nothing to stop her from trying again. Law had been watching her closely for that sort of thing at the time. He wasn't going to be looking for it always. He thought he had convinced her to stop.

"Stop that right now."

The command made her glance up at Law, irritation lacing her gaze. "What? I'm not allowed to look at my hands?" Mara bit back sarcastically. "Go to hell."

Law eyed the woman curiously. Interesting. The man's display of bravery had boosted her pride to where she was fighting back again. That was a surprising result. "It's not very difficult to piece together where your thoughts are, Miss Mara. I suggest you move onto something else."

"Like what? My plans for murdering you?" She held her hands up -dryly- in defense when the other three Heart Pirates looked to her threateningly. "Yeah, because I can do that without killing myself," she said sarcastically. Which at the moment, wasn't such a bad idea. But if she couldn't find the time to even bite her tongue, how would she find the time to off a famous pirate?

Instead she refocused her attention on Disco, who had come back out on stage. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you all… the pirate Lacueva got a little nervous - he got a nosebleed and started choking! He's collapsed backstage, so we won't be selling him until a later date!"

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

"However. Ladies and Gentlemen! The product I am about to reveal to you all… should be enough to completely blast all thoughts of such minor issues right out of your minds! IT'S A SUPER SPECIAL ITEM!"

The regular lights dimmed and multiple lights of many colors danced about the stage for added effect as they wheeled a large tarp covered container to the center of the stage. A light from behind the container lit up to give the audience the silhouette of a mermaid in a round bowl, like a larger version of one you'd keep a goldfish in.

The crowd regained its excited murmuring at the sight. "Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes..! Upon that beast whom many try to capture, but few succeed! Without further ado, I think I'll let the goods do the talking!" Disco grabbed hold of the tarp and yanked it off, revealing a pink-tailed green-haired young mermaid girl. "Direct from Fishman Island! It's the mermaid, Camie!"

The delighted and shocked exclamations spoke for themselves. These people were completely sick. The mermaid looked terrified out at the gathered people until her eyes locked onto something at the back of the room. Suddenly, she looked absolutely thrilled. Mara turned her head discreetly so she could see what caught her attention - and hope.

A group of six people were standing behind the bench that was in front of the door. Mara easily recognized all the faces except two, an orange starfish and a man who had a very interesting shape. If she didn't know better, she would say he was a fishman.

'Cat Burglar' Nami, 'Black Leg' Sanji, 'Cyborg' Franky, and 'Cotton Candy Lover' Chopper. All three part of the Strawhat crew. From the rumors, their captain was the craziest man to pirate in these waters in a long time. The crew had taken down Crocodile, a Shichibukai at the time. It wasn't common knowledge, but Mara was privilege to uncommon things in her line of work.

They had also attacked Enies Lobby and ultimately caused it to be destroyed. The list was a mile long. The Strawhat crew had been the only other rookie she had read up on, simply because they were so freaking interesting. Though it didn't look like their captain was around. From the look of the situation, however, that was bound to change. And someone was bound to get hurt. Conflict was just a matter of time.

It wasn't really surprising to learn they were friends with a mermaid.

"I'll bid five hundred million! Five hundred million Beli!" One of the Tenryuubito shouted, standing to make his exclamation like he thought people wouldn't hear him. Well, that was going to make this event end quickly. The entire building was stunned to silence. Disco hadn't even gotten the chance to say where the bids would start.

It appeared the mermaid Camie could not hear what was going on. Her gaze was fixed on the Strawhats and when their faces turned ashen Camie began to pound on the glass, as if she were trying to remind them to help her.

Disco attempted to re-find his voice. "…It… It looks like the entire auction was struck speechless for a moment there… But you heard the man! Five hundred million! Any higher offers?" He and everyone else in the room seriously doubted it, so he just continued. "If not, we'll be ending the bidding on the mermaid here!"

It sounded like the Strawhats were starting to panic, though it was difficult to hear them.

"And that's time up!" Disco announced. "Our super-special item of the day… the mermaid, Camie… to the highest bidder, world noble Chalros… for five hundred million Beli."

A furious scream rent through the air from far away and Mara spun in her seat to see where it was coming from. Surely not from the Strawhats in the back. No… it didn't even look like it was coming from inside the building.

Kid and his crew were near the entrance as if they had been in the process of leaving, but were stopped in their tracks by the scream. Whatever it was intrigued even the fiery red head. Something shot right past the Kid pirates and crashed into the back of the benches, sending people and wood chunks flying. Three figures climbed to their feet from the heart of the wreckage.

A huge crater was now in the middle of the last three rows, smoke coming off it in waves. "What's this?!" Disco said, perhaps without even knowing it.

But Mara knew exactly what this was, and 'Black Leg' Sanji confirmed it. "Luffy..!"

The captain didn't seem to hear the man. "Dammit, can't you pull off a better landing than that?!" Strawhat Luffy shouted angrily.

A man standing beside a very dazed giant fish bit back. "Like hell I can! This is a flying fish, you know! And you're the one who said to 'smash right in there'!"

A third man, who Mara recognized 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro, was rubbing his short green hair. "Jeez… I hopped on 'cause you told me to an' all… But why are we in such a crazy hurry to get back to the Sunny anyway?" Zoro looked around in confusion. This wasn't their ship. "…Hell, where are we?"

"Zoro, too?!" Chopper exclaimed.

Zoro looked over at the crew that had already been there. "Huh?! You guys…"

Kid inclined his head to look at Luffy, all traces of amusement or annoyance gone. "That man, isn't that 'Strawhat' Luffy..?!"


	10. Chapter 10: Supernova, Monkey D Luffy

**Chapter 10: Supernova, Monkey D. Luffy**

"That's definitely Strawhat," Mara muttered, eyeing the unfolding scene with interest.

"What's going on?!" Someone in the crowd yelled. "Who on earth are these punks?!"

Luffy turned away from the flying fish rider to look around the room. Instantly, he spotted the mermaid tank up on stage. "Ahh! Camie!" The small man barreled forward toward the stage. "Camie! There you are! Thank goodness!"

The man who looked vaguely like a fishman latched onto the boy's waist but ended up getting dragged along instead of stopping him. "Wait right there! Wait, Strawhat! What are you trying to pull?!"

"Whaddya mean?! Camie's right there!" Luffy objected, not slowing his pace.

"Sure she's there - with an exploding collar around her neck! We can't take her like that! Not to mention, the Tenryuubito are involved!"

"Oh, screw that!" Was the only response he got. Mara's forced façade cracked and a small smile came to her lips.

In an act of desperation, the man clinging to Luffy grabbed hold of the boy using… six arms. It almost looked like an unconscious action, as the man who did it didn't even notice. People screamed in absolute terror as the fishman was revealed to them. "It's a fishman! That's disgusting!"

"What?! A fishman?!"

Luffy's single-minded goal made it look like he didn't even hear the panicked screams. "I'm coming for you, Camie!"

"Somebody stop him! Stop that man in the straw hat!"

"Damn you bastards!" Luffy shouted. "Camie isn't for sale!"

"What's a fishman doing here on dry ground?!"

"Ahh, that's too creepy… look at the color of his skin! Look at all those arms!"

"It's scary! So scary! Don't let it near me!"

"Get back you monster!"

'As if a human auction wasn't entertaining enough on its own,' Mara thought dryly. "Nothing says chaos quite like Strawhat Luffy." Her words were drowned out by the continued shouting, but she was sure at least Law and Shachi heard her.

Four auction house workers dressed as clowns had all leapt on Luffy, wrapping their arms around his torso in an attempt to slow him down. It was only partially working. The man was like a wild beast straining against the world.

A gunshot echoed through the loud building.

Luffy froze. Mara turned her attention from him to the fishman, who was lying bleeding on the stairs. The Tenryuubito who bought Camie was standing there, smoking gun in hand. He let out a joyous laugh. "I got the fishman! I sure sorted him out!"

"Hachi!" 'Cat Burglar' Nami cried in horror, fear, and concern.

The people began to express their relief, thinking the worst was over. Mara knew better. Shit was about to go down. She had been in Alabasta observing Crocodile's actions at the time of his fall. Not too closely, of course. The sand-man was more than powerful enough to find her.

Luffy's darkening face looked at Camie. The distressed mermaid was crying and pounding on the glass of her bowl with all her might.

"Oh, father! Look at me! I caught me a fishman!" The Tenryuubito boasted in the way a kid did about their macaroni art. "I caught it myself, so it's totally free, right? Now that's real value! A fishman slave for nothing!"

The look on Luffy's face when he turned and began to march back up the stairs hit Mara right in her core. It was a look of complete and utter hatred coupled with unbridled outrage. That kind of a look on a man like that was the most dangerous thing in the world.

Beware the nice man who goes to war.

The fishman grabbed Luffy's arm as he stormed by, stopping the outraged man in his tracks. "Wai..t… please… Strawhat..! You… can't… it was… my… fault…" he let out a pained cough. "You promised… even if someone gets shot… right before your eyes! You mustn't go up against… the Tenryuubito..!"

Everyone in the room was still, caught looking at either the noble dancing in relief or looking at Strawhat in concerned fear.

"I was a pirate in the worst place, anyway!" The fishman proclaimed. "I did bad things… this is my just desserts..! I'm so sorry… I never meant for things to turn out… like this..! I just wanted to… make things up to Nami..! Even if only a little… I just wanted… to be able to help you guys out… But it's no good… no matter what I do… I'm always just useless..! I always just screw things up..!"

Mara felt like she was intruding on something personal, listening to this. Luffy had knelt down and placed a hand on the fishman's chest. It didn't look like the speech was calming him down at all. In fact, it looked like it was doing the exact opposite.

"I'm always just getting in everyone's way… I'm so sorry..!"

"Stupid fish!" The Tenryuubito shouted, lifting his gun again. "Blabbing your mouth off even though I shot you… you're really getting on my nerves!"

The look on Luffy's face screamed murder as he stood and continued his way up the stairs. The starfish sitting near the fishman decided it was his turn to try and calm the furious boy. "Stop it, Strawhat! You'll never get away with it..!"

"What's that guy doing?!" Someone shouted.

"Is he serious..?!" Mara could hear Kid express.

"And don't get me started on you!" The Tenryuubito shouted, firing at Luffy three times. The man was not where he had been for all three shots, dodging them with the ease of a seasoned fighter. His hand curled into a fist at his side and without a word he slammed it right into the noble's face.

The punch sent the man into a smoldering heap a few yards up the stairs. The shock in the room was an actual, tangible thing. The imprint of Luffy's fist was stuck in the noble's cheek, blood leaking from various places.

Luffy merely cracked his knuckles. Law smiled at the sight and Mara could see Kid do the same, amusement on his painted lips. The Strawhat captain turned to his crew unapologetically. "Sorry you guys. I hear that if you hit one of these guys, a marine admiral's gonna show up with battleships in tow."

Zoro slid his sword back into his sheath. When had he pulled it out? "Why'd you have to go and punch him? I wanted to slice him myself."

Nami ran forward to kneel by the fishman. "Hachi! Hang in there!"

"You guys… what have you done..?!" The fishman ground out.

"Well, hey… It's not like it could be helped," Nami said simply. "He's Luffy after all!" He did this kind of thing all the time.

Sanji lit up his cigarette with a smile. "Now, then…"

Franky just looked like he was happy to have the plan down. "Well, I guess that settles our plan for now, then."

Chopper didn't even bother to comment on the noble. "It's gotta be somewhere over there backstage! The key to Camie's collar! I've gotta see to Hachi's wounds. Good luck, you guys!"

"You guys…!" The starfish said, tears pouring down his face.

None of them looked the least bit concerned, Mara noted.

"Chalros!" The oldest Tenryuubito stood.

"Brother Chalros!" The female Tenryuubito called, horrified. "He's never even been hit by his own father before!"

"Why, you!" The older man yelled in outrage. "How dare a lowly peasant such as yourself lay a finger upon my son?!" The people began to panic and run, fleeing the building as fast as they could. The Tenryuubito pulled a gun. "Do you have any idea what will happen to you if you rise against us, against the descendants of the creator of this world?!"

The shot from his gun never hit anyone, as Sanji was there to kick the weapon from his hand and into the air. "How dare you do such a thing to Saint Rosward?!" An auction guard demanded, attacking Sanji with a spear.

Sanji's foot came down on the man in an armor shattering blow. "Move it! We have to get Camie free!"

Franky ran by the well dressed man. "Roger that! Leave it to me!"

"Guards! Guards!" A man working for the Tenryuubito yelled. "Stop those pirates!"

"You fools, attempting to protect the life of a mere fish!" One of the guards shouted at the pirates. As if it would bring them to their senses. Zoro cut the man down in one hit, right through the armor and everything.

"I see you scum intend to defy us to the very last!" Rosward yelled. "Call a marine admiral and his battleships! Let us put these scum in their place!"

Mara leaned back in her seat, once again crossing her arms over her chest as people scrambled by her to get to an exit. She was ninety nine percent sure the Heart and Kid Pirates wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, so she might as well be comfortable. The guards were just pouring in from everywhere.

"Is it terrible for me to say that this is much more entertaining than the previous activity?" She questioned the man beside her lightly.

"Get down!" Zoro yelled at his captain, who stood farther down the stairs. The swordsman swung. The shockwave from the attack went all the way down to Camie's bowl and sliced through the top, leaving in sliced at an angle.

"No. I agree," Law said simply, watching the fight brewing with interest. The Strawhats and their fish friends were all shouting at each other in their relief to having the cage opened. "This is much better." The darkness that crept into his smile answered better than his words, however.

Three more flying fish broke through the ceiling and three more people dropped into the fight. "Here I go!" A well dressed skeleton with a cane yelled, dropping to the ground. 'Humming' Brook. A woman fell through the air, her arms crossed across her chest, and wings made out of… hands sprouted from her back, allowing her to land easily. 'Devil Child' Nico Robin.

The last one was a man who was shoved off his ride and fell to the ground far from gracefully. "You know, I never said I could fly!" He was a little harder to determine, but his weapon gave him away. 'Sogeking'. He landed directly on top of Rosward.

"Father!" His daughter screeched.

"Even Saint Rosward..!" The guards said in disbelief. "These pirates don't know when to stop! They're got to be completely crazy!"

'That's accurate,' Mara thought dryly. The government knew them for their crazy. People in her branch had even started taking bets on what ridiculous thing they would do next.

"Usopp! Robin! Brook!" Luffy greeted, happy to see all his nakama back in one place.

Guards attempted to grab Robin, but she simply crossed her arms. "Clutch!" Arms sprouted from the shoulders of the guards and snapped their backs.

"Apologies for my lateness!" Brook called. A guard got in his way, but he simply pulled the sword from his cane and stabbed the guy. "Right - Excuse me!"

"Luffy, where's Camie?!" Usopp called.

"Over there!" The Strawhat captain thrust a finger to the bowl on the stage. "There are battleships and an admiral on the way!"

"Whaaaaat?!"

"Oh, the marines are already here, Mister Strawhat," Law informed the boy just loud enough to catch attention.

Luffy turned to look at the Heart Pirates. "Who the heck are you?" There was barely a pause before he added, "And what's with that bear?" Bepo looked away, muttering 'sorry'.

"If it's the marines you're worried about, they've been here since the auction started," Law told him. Might as well have them all on the same page. And, more importantly, see what they did with the information.

"What?! Seriously?!" Usopp said, eyes bugging out.

Law kept his eyes on the rubber captain. "They're surrounding the entire auction house. After all, marine HQ do have a post right here on this Archipelago. I don't know who it is they're after, but I doubt they expected anybody to start attacking the Tenryuubito."

Mara's eyes went between Law, Luffy, and Kid. "Who indeed…" Law simply smirked and tilted his head forward, letting his hat shadow his face.

"You're… Trafalgar Law!" Robin observed. "Luffy, that man is a pirate."

Law chuckled. "You've put on quite the little show here, you and your crew."

"…The bear, too?!" Luffy asked in disbelief. Well, his priorities might have been a tad bit off.

"P-please, I beg you just wait a moment, Saint Shalulia… proper payment has yet to be made…" They heard Disco squawk from the front of the room.

Shalulia placed a small step ladder next to Camie's bowl and climbed atop it, gun in hand. "Oh, be quiet, peasant! I am going to kill this mermaid they want to much!"

"Shit! Camie!" Sanji called.

None of them were close enough to make it in time.


	11. Chapter 11: Three Captains

**Chapter 11: Three Captains**

Camie sunk to the bottom of her bowl in an attempt to get as far away from the murderous Tenryuubito as she could. "Hold still, fish!" Shalulia commanded, taking aim, finger on the trigger pulling back, ready to kill that fish right then.

Without warning, the noble woman seized up and fell to the floor with a muffled 'thump'. The silhouette of a man stepping through the torn screen behind the stage appeared. "See, what'd I tell ya, Mister Giant? The place is total chaos! The auction's over, I've stolen my money, guess it's time to head back to do some more gambling."

The man walked out onto the stage. Long, wavy silver hair framed his face as he took a swig from the flask in his hand. The cloak he wore billowed around his feet as he walked. He looked completely unassuming. It was enough to make Mara's mouth drop open on shock.

"You really are one screwed up old man…" the giant behind him commented, breaking his way through the wall. "So it's money you were after?"

"I was planning on stealing from whoever bought me too, if I was lucky enough to get the chance. I mean look at me. I'm just an old man now. Who would want me as a slave?!" He let out a bark of laughter.

Finally, he took in the room before him. The stands not full of civilians, but guards decked in armor and weapons. The pirates fighting them. The Strawhat seated comfortably atop the head of a boy in the direct center of the room.

"Hm? What's this?" He said, as if he hadn't known they were all there when he stepped out. "Looks like everyone's looking at us."

"What's with the old man and the giant?!" A guard said in confusion. "Weren't they meant to be on auction?! How the hell did they get out of their cages..?! How did they open the locks?!"

"Now what?!" Another guard said.

"Whaddya mean?!" A third chimed in. "We aren't trained for capturing prisoners! There's no way we can take down a giant who isn't even restrained!"

"R-Rayleigh..!" The fishman said in disbelief.

"Huh?" Chopped looked from his patient to the old man. "The coating engineer?!" Law and Mara watched the old man with equal amounts of interest, both having recognized him instantly. What the hell was he doing getting sold at a human auction house?

Delighted surprise colored Rayleigh's face. "Oh?! Why, if it isn't Hachi! It is you, right?! It's been a while! What're you doing in a place like this?!" His delight disappeared, a serious expression taking over. "And what's with all those wounds? Ah, no, no. Don't bother explaining. Hmm…"

He rubbed his chin in thought, taking the situation in again. The mermaid sitting in the bowl on stage. The three unconscious Tenryuubito. Guards everywhere, both conscious and unconscious.

"Hm, hmm…" He looked down, putting it all together. "So basically… yeah, I see. You sure have got yourself in a fair bit of trouble, eh, Hachi?" He looked to the Strawhats. "So you guys saved him, did you? Now, then…" He smirked. All of the guards and auction house workers dropped to the ground, completely out cold.

"What?! What the?! What did he just do?!" Usopp demanded, a tremor in his voice.

Sanji's expression darkened. "What the hell is that old man..?!"

"And that straw hat," Rayleigh continued. "It certainly suits a fearless man like yourself. I've been waiting to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy." He walked over to Camie and took her by the shoulders, focusing on more pressing matters instead. "Let's see about that collar."

"Whoa, whoa, Rayleigh, don't get hasty!" The starfish yelled. "She could explode, you know!"

Chopper looked equally frightened. "Yeah, those collars on the slaves explode! We saw it ourselves!"

"Yes, I saw it also," Brook agreed. "Those collars are extremely dangerous!"

Rayleigh ignored them all. "Don't worry," he told the mermaid. "You just keep still."

"Stop that! Without the key, it won't come off!" The starfish tried to reason. Rayleigh tapped the side of the collar, the part that started the mechanism. A loud ringing beep resounded through the building. "It's beeping and everything! What have you done! Oh, it's all over… we'll never make it now! Camie!"

Mara couldn't see what the old man did, but he flicked his wrist the collar exploded, effectively blocking everyone's view with a heavy cloud of smoke. The Strawhats all looked horrified that the girl they had been fighting for was gone. Just like that.

"Camie!" The starfish wailed, tears pouring down his tiny body. "I told you..!" Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing the old man and Camie standing exactly as they had been, not even a single scratch on them. "Camie!" The small creature cried again, this time in relief. He rushed forward, tripping down the stairs a few times, and leapt into her arms. "Camie! Thank goodness!"

"Well, that was dramatic," Mara commented quietly, letting out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

"The hell?!" Franky yelled, coming out onto the stage. "What was that just now?! She's not collared or cuffed or anything!" He held a key ring up angrily. "Dammit, and I just managed to find the keys and all!"

"Ah, thank you!" Camie said, despite not needing it.

"Oh, very impressive. You found the keys," Rayleigh acknowledged. "But no need for that. You can carry this girl out of here."

"The hell are you saying?! What's going on here?! Who are you anyway?!" The cyborg certainly was a loud one.

"What the..?! What did he do?!" Usopp demanded, ducking behind one of the benches. "It's just one thing after another with this guy! He took it off with his bare hands..!"

Franky glowered in annoyance and tossed the keys off stage. "Oi, slaves-to-be. The buyers have all run for it. I'd suggest you run too while you have the chance." Noises and squeals of delight sounded from off-stage.

"If it really was that old guy who took out all the guards at once, then he must have some kind of magical or demonic power, right..?!" Usopp continued. "He's a fruit user or something..! Luffy, how do you guys know each other?"

"I don't know that guy at all," the rubber man remarked bluntly.

Rayleigh's eyes landed on the Heart Pirates and the Kid Pirates. "Oh, I'm sorry, you guys… So you're pirates hanging around to watch, eh?"

Penguin had gotten to his feet, arms crossed, facing so that Law was on his right and the stage was on his left so he could be there if he was needed. Shachi rubbed his head. "Ahh… damn… I nearly lost consciousness for a moment there."

"And if you took that blast without any trouble, I guess you're not just amateurs, either," the old man complimented.

Law's lips curled up in morbid humor. "To think we'd run into a man like him in a place like this." To say it was random was an understatement.

"I kinda of figured he'd be in the New World or something," Mara added. Rumors placed him in many areas. Though, she supposed, Sabaody _was_ on the list.

"'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh!" Kid named. "Ain't no mistaking him… What's a legend like him doing here?"

"Here on this island, I just go by 'coating engineer Ray'," Rayleigh corrected. "I wouldn't go throwing that name around too much. I'm an old man now, I'd rather live a peaceful life."

None of the three pirate crews moved. Rayleigh stepped off the stage and walked over the fishman, kneeling to take a look at the injury. Mara shifted in her seat to try and get a better look. It wasn't as if this was something you got to see every day.

"You're not going to die on me, right Hachi? You always used to be so careful about wandering around on this island."

"I'm sorry…" The fishman, Hachi, gasped out.

"Thank you, all of you," Rayleigh said the Strawhats. "You saved a dear friend of mine."

"So, old guy, what was all that about wanting to meet me?" Luffy asked, giving absolutely no heed to the fact that there were marines surrounding the place.

Rayleigh looked amused at the way he was addressed. Here was a man who didn't care about status; it was all about what you did. "Let's talk about that later. First, we have to worry about getting out of here."

"They have the place completely surrounded, Captain Kid," the Kid pirate who looked like a patchwork zombie informed.

On cue, the marines began to yell through amplifying snails. "Criminals, we suggest you hurry up and release Roswald and his family immediately! And admiral will be here any minute! So you'd be best off surrendering yourselves right away! There's no telling what'll happen if you don't! Damn rookies!"

Mara snorted in a very unladylike manner. "How inspiring."

Law turned his smirk on her. "They're your people, you know."

She merely rolled her eyes. It was bothersome how he seemed to feel the need to remind her every time she said anything negative about the government. And the woman was completely aware of the extra two pairs of eyes on her, from the two agents following Kid and Luffy. "Technically, I suppose. Different branch."

"Looks like we're involved in this whether we like it or not," Law added, to both her and Kid. He didn't sound concerned in the least. "They're acting as though we're his accomplices."

"Hey, I got to see firsthand that Strawhat Luffy's just as crazy as the rumors say," Kid commented appreciatively. "I'm not exactly complaining. But I sure ain't sticking around to fight it out with an admiral!"

"Oh, by the way, I won't be using that 'power' I just used anymore, so it's up to you guys now," Rayleigh told them. "It would be irritating if the marines caught on to who I really am."

"Well, the longer we stick around, the more of 'em we'll have to get through," Kid said flippantly. "We'll be heading on ahead, if you don't mind." The Kid pirates started for the door and their captain through his hand over his shoulder in a lazy wave. "Oh, and while we're at it, we'll do you guys a favor! We'll take out the guys hanging around out front, so don't you worry your little selves."

The looks on Law's and Luffy's faces screamed insult and outrage. Law's teeth clenched noticeably. Now their pride was on the line. Both men were off after Kid without hesitation, all three bickering all the way to the entrance about who was going to do the fighting.

Mara knew the show would be wherever those three went. The Heart and Kid pirates remained where they were, keeping their eyes on the Strawhats and Rayleigh. She vaulted over the seat and followed behind the captains, keeping far enough back that they wouldn't notice. This was going to be amazing.

"I told you, leave it to me!" Kid said to the other two captains.

"No! _I'm _gonna do it!" Luffy returned loudly, much like a child.

"Don't tell me what to do," was all Law said.

"You guys just don't get it!" The red-head snapped.

"You're the one who doesn't get it!" Law's tone was becoming annoyed.

And then they were out on the grass in front of the stairs. "Alright." It looked like Luffy was finally getting down to business. Hopefully. He cracked his knuckles. "You guys can stand back, I don't need your help," Luffy said confidently, dismissing the other two.

Kid's arms were crossed over his chest. "Hey! Are you even listening?! I told you two to stay back!" Though this did give him a great opportunity to see what they were really capable of.

Law's left hand was raised near his chest, palm up. "Tell me what to do again and I'll start by getting rid of you, Mister Eustass," Law commented matter-of-fact. Mara took a seat a little father back than the top of the stairs. This fight would get a little messy and she didn't want to be close enough for backlash.

"Here they come!" One of the marines shouted. "Ready yourselves!" Mara assumed the man to be the one in charge. "Three of them… and they're all captains! They must have blown straight through the advance guard! From the right, they're worth three hundred million, three hundred fifteen million, and two hundred million respectively!"

"_I'll_ handle it," Luffy asserted once more.

Kid wasn't going to let that happen. "Let me handle it."

"You can stay here and bicker all you want," Law commented. "I-"

"Can handle this all by myself!" All three of them declared confidently.

"Ladies, ladies, please," Mara muttered quietly, not really wanting them to hear her. "You're all pretty. Can we start now?"

"Mortars! Fire!" Three shots fired from the mortars set up right before them.

"Gomu Gomu No…" Luffy inflated like a balloon and caught the cannonball in his stomach, launching it back the way it came. "Balloon!" An explosion burst forth along with screams.

Kid waited until the cannonball aimed for him was right in front of his before he raised his hand above it. "Repel." The thing shot back with equal force, taking out the thing that shot it as well as the operators. Mara had heard of his magnetic abilities. They were impressive in person.

Law flipped his free hand over and stretched out his arm. "Room." A blue dome appeared over him and the man by the mortar in front of him.

"Wh-what's this circle?" The man questioned, taking his eyes off Law for just a moment.

Bad idea. Law unsheathed his blade and swung, slicing the man's head clean off from a distance. Just as the cannonball was a few feet in front of him, Law raised his left hand in front of his face. "Shambles."

The cannonball switched places with the guys head and dropped to the ground where the head would have, exploding on contact. The head took the place of the attack shooting towards the man, and he caught it easily with his already raised hand. "I've been killed!" The severed head yelled. Law was tossing the head up and down as if it were a ball, a devilish smirk on his lips. "Wait… huh?!" The captain chuckled at the reaction.

"Cannons won't work on these guys!" The marine in charge shouted. "All three of them are Fruit Users! Leave enough people to rescue the hostages, and gather all our men out here! Mortars, too!" A wall of mortars and riflemen set up in front of them to the barked orders to his barked orders. "Ready! Aim!"

"W-wait! Please wait!" The head in Law's hand yelled.

Kid extended his arms so that his hands blocked both of the other captains. "Don't either of you do anything! You'll just get in the way!"

Law bristled at his words. "I already told you! Tell me what to do and-"

But he didn't get to finish that thought, as Luffy charged forward yelling, "Leave it to me!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

"Gomu Gomu no Finger Net!" Luffy's fingers stretched out into a large net, catching all the cannonballs. He spun on his heel, turning in a circle and swinging the bundle above his head.

Kid's shock from the boy's charge wore off as he watched him go. "He can stretch?!"

"What kind of weird power is that?" Law wondered.

A cannonball fell through the net and fell right towards them, forcing the two to leap away as if connected with the ground and exploded. "What are you doing?!" Kid demanded.

Luffy merely giggled, a smile plastered on his face. "Sorry!"

"Strawhat! You really are screwed up in the head!" Kid already knew it, but this…

"Start with Strawhat Luffy! Charge!" The childlike spinning stopped and Luffy released his hold on the cannonballs, letting them pepper the ground where the marines were charging. "Damn you! Fire! Fire! Fire!"

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.

"Enjoying the show, Mara?" Yes, yes she was. But that wasn't the point of the comment and she knew it. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

The deceptively sweet female voice came from right behind her.


	12. Chapter 12: Three Agents

_"Start with Strawhat Luffy! Charge!" The childlike spinning stopped and Luffy released his hold on the cannonballs, letting them pepper the ground where the marines were charging. "Damn you! Fire! Fire! Fire!" _

_The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. _

_"Enjoying the show, Mara?" Yes, yes she was. But that wasn't the point of the comment and she knew it. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. _

_The deceptively sweet female voice came from right behind her._

**Chapter 12: Three Agents**

The captured agent was on her feet and facing the two before the question was finished. The woman she had seen earlier, Agent Zen, and a man similarly dressed stood there, watching her. The man she knew to be Agent Weiss, a shorter, fluffy haired man. "Zen, Weiss," Mara greeted slowly, not entirely sure how this was going to go down.

On the upside, agents were only assigned to follow captains, meaning Roronoa Zoro and Killer had not been followed. So, she was dealing with two assassins/spies instead of four. Which was good. Unless they had called for the rest during the long show in the auction house, something that was somewhat unlikely, though still very probable.

"This is an interesting approach to observation," Zen commented airily, waving her hand around though not actually motioning to anything. "When did 'joining the pirates' become an acceptable method?"

Mara sent the two an irritated look, disguising the shard of worry that was nestling itself in her stomach. "Aren't you two supposed to be observing someone?" Like, the people fighting right below them?

"We've got the information we need from the event. Now that the marines are involved, we're no longer required," Weiss spoke this time. "You are a far more pressing concern. How much have you told Trafalgar Law?"

A vicious surge shot through her at their attacking words. If asked, she wouldn't have been able to explain it. Her eyes narrowed on the two, who had once been on good terms with her. "Enough to get Crova killed."

Zen's eyes narrowed as well, making her look distinctly cat-like. "That explains why we can no longer contact him. We assumed Drake found him."

Mara rolled her eyes at the other woman. "He did. Right after Captain Trafalgar did. The man is perceptive." She wasn't about to mention that it was her fault Law found the agent, but she was sure it was implied somewhere in there.

"Why are you helping a pirate?" Zen hissed through clenched teeth.

Mara shrugged carelessly, in a way that told them she was completely at ease with the situation. Which was a lie, but showing weakness to sharks was never a good idea. "I don't have a choice. He's taken something rather vital from me."

"You're supposed to die when that happens," Weiss reminded her, his tone deceptively light.

"I'm working on it." Weiss glowered at her flippant tone and the fact that her eyes traveled back down to look at the three captains. As if he and Zen weren't a threat. That couldn't have been further from the truth.

Mara knew it. These two would probably attempt to subdue her and cart her back to Marineford or some such place. But it was just so tempting to _bother_ them, to make them feel unimportant in her eyes. She wanted them to know they were the enemies she saw them as. It was difficult to say why the sudden desire to put herself on the other side of their coin appeared, and she would certainly never tell Captain Trafalgar about it.

Not that she thought she would ever really get the chance to tell him.

"You can go ahead and write the report that I'm not coming back," Mara continued. This was about to go real bad, real fast.

"Oh, you _are_ coming back," Zen hissed.

Footsteps pounding towards them cut her short before she could continue and it took just one quick glance for Mara to know the fight below them was pretty much over. The footsteps were probably the three pirate crews organizing and heading for the entrance after their rash captains.

The pressure in the air changed and her eyes widened. The blow went right over her head as she ducked, but the one that had been heading for her stomach caught her in the jaw. The force from it sent her flying backwards into one of the pillars.

She blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear her vision as she attempted to sit up. "…the hell?" They advanced on her but she came up fighting, despite her disoriented state. Her sharp nails raked across Weiss' face when she swung, she could just _feel_ it ripping into his skin.

"Stay down," Zen ordered. "You're coming back to base with us, and we'll let you explain to Helios why that pirate had his arm around you."

Weiss caught her again across the head even as she tried to dodge, anticipating her maneuver and making her world spin even more. All she registered was red running down his face before her entire vision flashed white then blurry and she could feel herself being hefted onto someone's shoulder. It felt like her brain was rattling around inside her head and moving wasn't helping one bit. "Always knew something was wrong with you," Weiss commented gruffly.

"Damn..!" Zen hissed, eyeing the corridor behind them. "The pirates are on their way. We need to go, now!"

That appeared to be an understatement, because the three groups rounded the corner at that moment. For a moment, the three agents were all the pirates saw before they disappeared, revealing the more interesting battleground behind them.

Mara could feel the man beneath her running. Her head was spinning too much to figure out where exactly he was going to, though it was probably safe to say it was some ship or something at one of the ports. Perhaps even the base on the island. Anything that belonged to the government was fair game, really.

Not that it mattered. It was likely that she wouldn't ever get that far, anyway. Her mind was focused on the hole in her chest. How long until Law figured out what had happened and used her heart to kill her? She had a ridiculous amount of information on the man that would certainly harm him were it told to the right -or wrong- people.

Mara was going to die long before she reached Helios to get whatever punishment he would concoct. That, for once, was a relief. The thought had never occurred to her before. She was likely to never see him again.

Or Law. She would probably never see him again, either. For some reason, that seemed slightly more sad than never seeing her brother again. Her face screwed up in annoyance as her senses slowly came back to her. Mara really was a messed up kind of person to be thinking like that. And where the hell had that resolve gone that she found in the auction house?

Well, it was sure as hell back now.

The toe of her heeled boot jammed into Weiss' stomach as hard as she could manage, which from her nice focal point was pretty damn hard. A grunt of pain told her of her success. She wasted no time jamming her clawed nails into the meat of his back before he could retaliate. A yelp met her ears this time. The running stopped. Zen was right in front of her.

Her multitude of weapons were gone, likely taken when she was first stunned by one of the other two agents. That left her options severely limited, with only blunt force as a tool. And both of them still had the sharp and pointies. Not only that, but they had extra sharp and pointies that used to belong to her. Damn, this was going to be a hell of a fight.

But her legs were already curled, coiled and placed firmly against Weiss' chest. The former agent sprung backward using her former friend as a springboard and landed crouched in the grass a yard away. A punch from Zen sailed harmlessly over Weiss' shoulder.

The man in front of her was staggered. That didn't hinder Zen in the least, and she rushed forward with an intent to maim and/or kill. Mara dropped to the ground as the knife sailed toward her head. The other woman was expecting the dodge, and came with second knife low as she finally reached her prey. Mara was forced into a split second choice: get hit by the high flying blade or the blade with much more force in a much more lethal place.

Her fingers dug into the ground as she launched her legs above her head, sending her flying backwards in a flip. She completely ignored the pain that erupted in her right thigh and the warm liquid she could feel trickling from the spot. It could afford to be felt later. Right now she had to focus on getting away from the wildly swinging woman still charging her.

Zen was ferocious fighter, something most people didn't expect from her elegant and beautiful appearance. She swung heavier than most of the men they worked with, and was far more likely to severely injure people during training. One of the agents that was there when Mara started was actually killed by her during a practice fight. It still amazed her how such a classically gorgeous woman could fight like such an unrestrained beast.

When Mara's feet touched the ground again, she wasted no time springing backwards again, knowing Zen wouldn't even be an inch behind her. The tip of Zen's blade drew across her stomach as she went into the second handspring, making her clench her teeth. If she had been milliseconds slower…

Another swipe came in from the side. She felt the attack at the last possible second to dodge, and in an effort to not cut her jugular, she craned her neck away from the knife and slammed her foot to the side, perpendicular to her torso. The defensive attack caught Weiss square in the sternum. Since her legs were longer than his arms, the knife was pulled away from her neck just as she craned her neck away from it. Twice the distance for the cost of balancing on one foot.

Something that Zen was quick to take advantage of. Her hand curled around the hilt of her knife in a tight fist and she slammed it into Mara's exposed ribcage. It would have winded her had the captured agent not realized the attack and braced all of her muscles in the region for the impact.

Weiss was shifting, so Mara took the leg that had held him back and swung it forward in down in a sweeping motion, catching Zen right above the ankles and shoving her feet out from under her. The look on her face was almost comical when the blond fell to the dirt, not expecting the move so unable to catch herself with her hands.

But Mara had to focus on the man who latched a hand onto her upper arm, using his considerable strength to pull her half a foot away from the spot she was standing. The move effectively made her stumble and hop a little, trying to regain her footing. That didn't stop her from raising her other hand.

His wrist landed in her waiting palm, her fingers wrapping in a vice-like grip, stopping his attack for her exposed… well, everything. Her other arm she wrenched from his grip, at the same time kicking forward with full force and using the freed hand to punch up with an equal amount of force.

The result was heard with a crack and a sharp hiss as her foot slammed into Zen's nose (who had been about to hamstring her), and her fist went right under Weiss' chin, jarring him into closing his eyes to brace the impact.

Both of them stunned and staggered from pain, Mara darted from the scene. This would probably be the only time she had the chance to run with an actual number gracing the chances of escape percentage.

A growl that turned into a roar of rage changed her mind. On instinct alone she dropped all her weight to the dirt and was glad she did when Zen's entire body sailed over her head. The enraged woman landed not two feet from her and it was seconds before she was on Mara.

Weiss was gone. The fact registered on a subconscious level as she focused on Zen, not even bothering to try and land a hit, just trying to not get cut to ribbons. Though while she wasn't trying to land a hit, the wild strikes came close enough often enough for her to lash her hand out and grab the other woman's wrist.

She wouldn't be able to hang on long but she managed to twist it to a painful angle, forcing Zen's hand to open, letting the knife drop into Mara's other waiting hand. With the surprise element she gained, she immediately moved the armed hand to slash at Zen's other wrist. The second knife was wrenched from the manicured hand and into Mara's other hand.

Two weapons. Perfect.

Zen was quick to pull another long, sharp knife from the neck of her boot. Even as she pulled it out she was swinging, drawing it forward and up. Mara expected the move, however, and stepped onto the outstretched and armed hand. Since she was putting all her weight into attacking with it, it was sturdy enough to hold Mara's weight.

Mara swung her other leg around to catch around the other woman's neck. With that in place, she threw all of her weight forward and over Zen's shoulder, forcing her neck to go be pulled back and her back to bend at an increasingly uncomfortable angle. If she had more room to keep twisting backwards, Zen's spine would snap easily under the pressure.

That, however, wasn't going to happen. Mara was as far into the ground as she could push herself and all it was doing was straining the other woman's muscles to the extreme. No actual fatal attacks would come from this position.

Her leg swung off Zen's neck gracefully, her armed hand following the path in the opposite direction, swinging her knife around to slice across the woman's vulnerable throat. The loud 'clang' of metal hitting metal resounded, followed by a dozen others in quick succession as the two attacked each other fiercely, neither one attempting to simply subdue anymore.

This was going to hurt.

They had gotten to their feet sometime during the now constant clash of their blades, the movements so fast their arms were becoming almost blurry, the ring of metal playing in a single long note of danger.

The pressure shifting behind her was the only warning she got. Without thinking, Mara threw her body weight forward in an attempt to dodge the stunning blow she knew was coming. The move pushed her blades off of Zen's and gave both women direct access through the other's defenses.

Her body plowed into Zen's and both women were knocked to the ground, the brunette landing heavily on top of the blond, both of them gasping in pain from the impact. The pain in Mara's abdomen was so acutely intense that she didn't dare move for fear of ripping her stomach open.

Zen didn't move either, for much the same reason. Mara's two blades were imbedded in an arm and a hip, effectively pinning her into the dirt. The ladies looked at each other, faces inches apart, breathing ragged, absolute hate in both pairs of eyes.

Weiss walked over to them, in no particular hurry. They were clearly not going anywhere. Mara could see the marks her nails made on his cheek and his left eye was closed. Good. She hoped she blinded him. "What were you trying to accomplish with that?" He wondered aloud. He wasn't so much asking her as he was trying to figure it out himself.

Weiss didn't look the least bit concerned about Zen, Mara noted silently. "If you figure it out…" the rogue agent hissed through clenched teeth, "…let me know." Personally, she had no idea what the goal had been. To get away? Probably not. She was on par with both of them, so the probability of her getting very far was low.

To buy her some time, perhaps? That seemed even more unlikely. Time for what? She was a dead woman. This was not news. Perhaps it was to prove she could fight back. Ever since she had gotten caught, her prowess had meant next to nothing.

Mara Reade was not weak. She had never been weak. Getting caught off guard once inside that submarine was a fluke. It was something that never happened. The list of pirates she watched in the past was a mile long, and plenty of them had higher bounties than Trafalgar Law.

Having her heart stolen made her unable to fight against him. This she understood. But it didn't mean she was weak. She knew how to fight and handled herself like a professional assassin when in combat. The list of her kills was as long as her observations.

Being captured made her feel weak. She didn't like feeling weak. So she supposed this one last act of defiance had been to prove that she was capable. That if she wasn't taken seriously, she would make her captors regret it.

The man crouched down beside them and eyed the situation thoughtfully. Getting the two apart without killing either of them was going to be a hell of a problem. It wasn't like he particularly cared about either of them (though if Zen died it'd be a ton of paperwork), he just knew Helios would want Mara alive. If only so he could kill her himself.


	13. Chapter 13: Emphasis On 'Of Death'

**Chapter 13: Emphasis On **_**'Of Death'**_

Trafalgar Law was not pleased.

It was clear to the two Heart Pirates as they stood behind their captain, just barely hidden from view by the large trees near the coast in Grove Sixty Three. Penguin was shifting uncomfortably, his eyes darting from side to side every few seconds. They were in marine territory now, not someplace pirates wanted to be. Especially when an admiral had been called to the island.

But that meant nothing to the Heart Captain. No, this was the kind of 'not pleased' that meant the people on the receiving end of his current mood would not be in good health for long. The darkened expression that had been fixed on his face for the past few hours screamed murder most brutal.

As did the blood dripping from his hands.

He eyed the large ship docked before them. It looked like a typical marine ship, colored blue and painted with stripes. There weren't even any high ranking officers in sight, no one barking orders. It was completely ordinary. Never in his life would he have given the thing a second thought.

Had there not been an obvious blood stained trail leading to it, of course. Well, okay, it may not have been obvious. But he _was_ more observant than people tended to give pirates credit for, and he had Bepo, a bear with keen animal senses. His gaze landed on a particularly large platter of blood on the gangplank of the ship and his eyes narrowed even more.

* * *

_They were running as fast as their legs could take them. The route was the most unnatural path Law could think of, winding between trees and shops and people, anything to get away from the Shichibukai robot chasing them._

_Law's teeth were clenched shut for a completely different reason. "What do you mean 'she was taken'?" He almost growled. He had more than enough on his plate at the moment without someone taking his marine._

_"We saw it when we left the auction house," Penguin told the irate man. "It was a man and a woman. The man had her slung over his shoulder."_

_"From their clothes, they looked like people from her line of work," Shachi added._

_Then they were probably the agents following Strawhat and Eustass, since those were (as far as he knew) the only Supernovas in the immediate area. Damn it, he stepped away from Mara for two minutes and suddenly someone kidnaps her. They were amazingly efficient, he had to admit._

_Didn't stop him from wanting to kill them._

_"You mentioned she was bleeding," Law reminded them. That could prove useful. "Is it enough to track her with, Bepo?"_

_"I can try," the polar bear replied doubtfully._

_The captain nodded. Good. "Did any of you catch which direction they took her in?" _

_Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo glanced at each other. From what they remembered, the three government agents had just kind of disappeared. "Sorry, no," Penguin replied at length._

_The large slave man Law had freed at the auction house, Jean Bart, made a noise of recognition. "I think I may have seen them. They were heading towards the sixty groves. That way." He pointed to their left. Law instantly veered that way. It wasn't surprising that they were taking her to the marine's groves. He just needed to know what route they took to get there._

_"Captain, I don't think we're being followed anymore," Shachi informed him. _

_One less thing to deal with. "Good. Anything, Bepo?"_

_"Blood. A lot of it," Bepo answered. The smell was assaulting his nose in the most unpleasant way. He shifted his steps so he was moving toward it, only a small change from their current track. "Over there!" There hadn't been a need for him to say it._

_The group covered the distance to the spot quickly at their pace. Law knelt down to examine the ground. A large amount of blood had turned the grass a sickly brown color mainly in one large splotch. The grass was pretty trampled in the few yards surrounding it, telling them of the battle that had taken place there not even fifteen minutes before._

_"Is it all hers?" Law wondered aloud. If so, that wasn't very healthy. Based on the positioning of the splatter, though… "Probably not." He stood, a frown pulling his lips down. "Bepo, Penguin, find where they've taken her."_

_"Aye aye Captain!" They agreed readily. Without hesitating to see what he planned to do, they ran off in the direction of the sixty groves._

_"Shachi." Said man saluted. "I need you to return to the ship and get it ready to go. We're not going to be able to stay on this island long. As soon as I have Mara, we're leaving." Shachi ran off out of sight. Finally, Law turned to Jean Bart, his expression dark and malicious. "How do you feel about hunting?"_

* * *

As the three Heart Pirates watched, a woman approached the ship from the path along the shore. She was classically pretty, with long flowing golden hair, except for the clearly broken nose she was sporting. Her clothes were dark and tight. Too similar to Mara's original clothes to be a coincidence. Her upper arm was wrapped in white gauze, a spot of red bleeding through.

Just as she placed one foot on the gangplank she paused. Nothing noticeable had interrupted her, but she stayed there for a moment, frozen. "Weiss!" She shouted, an edge of panic to her voice. When no one appeared, she tried again louder, "Weiss!"

Several seconds ticked by before a man walked to the top of the gangplank. He was slightly shorter with fluffy brown hair and exactly the same clothes as the woman. Even from the distance he was at, Law could see the red claw marks over the left half of his face. It was pleasing to see that Mara got some good, lasting hits off on both of them. "What?" he demanded, annoyed.

"We have a problem."

Weiss' face screwed up in irritation. "What is it? Spit it out."

"Trafalgar Law." The words had barely left her lips when his face turned absolutely horrified. "He has followed us here." Then she turned and faced the tree line, looking straight at the pirate.

"Set sail!" Weiss ordered the marines on deck. "Now! Make sure this ship gets to Marineford!" He'd already called Helios and reported that Mara was on her way. If she didn't make it back, there would be some serious issues. He strode down to Zen and stood beside her.

"Return to the ship. Bring it here," Law ordered Penguin and Bepo. "By the time you arrive I'll be ready to follow the ship." He took a step out from under the trees. "Oh, and make sure Jean has the package ready. I have some things I want to add."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo saluted.

Law didn't look back at them as he approached the two agents. The ship behind them was already drifting away from the shore, the marines scrambling across the deck in an unorganized manner. The agents themselves had neutralized their expressions.

"Here to protect your secrets, pirate?" Weiss questioned. "You're too late. When that ship reaches Marineford, there won't be anything about you that the government won't know."

Law came to a stop several yards away from the two. The aura he was giving off gave them both the chills. Bloodlust. "That's not why I'm here."

Zen's brow rose, intrigued, trying to hide the fact that she was shaking with fear. "Oh?" Unconsciously, her eyes dropped to the red staining the doctor's fingers. Well that was comforting.

That was the least of his worries. He could simply stick a blade into the metal box dangling from his waist and she would never spout a single one of his secrets. No, this was about something else. The 'shink' of his nodachi being unsheathed met their ears. "You do not touch my crew."

They took their own weapons out. The last thing they wanted to do was fight a Supernova, especially one so obviously pissed off. It was almost as if the two were… friends or something. They were spies. However she had convinced him that she was part of his crew was a lie. If he could get the man to understand that, maybe they wouldn't die here.

"I'm not sure what she told you, Trafalgar, but I assure you, you can't trust her," Weiss commented, twirling his knives around his fingers.

"I trust she meant 'go to hell' when she said it." Their attempt to stall for their lives was cute. Too bad for them, really, that he wanted them dead more than he wanted to get information. "Mara's _mine_. Think twice before you steal from a pirate." He rose a hand in front of his torso.

It was as if time stopped for Zen. Right here, right in front of her, was her death. She vaguely wondered that if she knew this would be the result, would she have still gone after Mara? Probably. Government secrets and all. That didn't stop the terror creep into her gut the next time Law spoke.

"Room."

* * *

The sounds of waves lapping the side of the side and the gentle rocking of the boat were all Mara Reade had to entertain herself. She had never personally been inside a military ship's cells, but she found the experience oddly… boring.

She had expected to feel fear, anger, intimidation, happiness… something. Hell, she was just captured for the second time in a week. Captured by her own people this time, but still. Captured. Behind bars. She should at least feel something, right?

Like, for instance, a stabbing pain where her heart should be and then the floor on her cheek before she closed her eyes for good. That was something she had seriously been expecting to feel. That was the one certainty she had left.

So far, it hadn't come.

Waiting to die was so much more boring than the stories said.

It had been several hours since they reached their ship, one of the ships used to cart the agents from place to place in their missions to follow people. Mara was pretty sure it was the same one that dropped her off on Jigoon a week ago. In dire circumstances, it could be used as a prison ship as well.

Weiss had tossed her unceremoniously into the cell, chucked a cloth at her, shut it, and, without a word, disappeared. No one had been back down to see her since. This was good and bad. Good, because she would only want to beat their faces in if they came down. If only to relieve her boredom.

Bad, because she was _really, really _bored_._

Her fingers danced idly over the wooden floor, tracing tiny patterns that left no marks. Sure, she could off herself. There were plenty of ways to do it in the nice little cell she was in. And there was nothing to stop her. It would certainly cure her boredom.

But, gods be damned, she was curious. Why the hell was Law not killing her? They were both very aware that he could. So what the hell was he doing? Did he really want all of his secrets to be spread to the entirety of the World Government?

Mara sighed and spread her legs out in front of her, leaning against the wall. She could probably mount an escape, but what would be the point? She'd just get caught by one faction or another as soon as she was out.

And then there were her injuries, which also kept her from moving. Her black shirt was practically torn to shreds where it extended past her blue shirt. The previously pristine white towel rested atop her stomach, now stained a rich red.

For the first hour, she attempted to stop the blood flow. It slowed to a steady stream after that, and when that refused to let up for the next hour, she just ignored it and the towel altogether. From what she could tell, it was just a trickle now anyway.

The much shallower cut she received almost looked like it crossed over top of the larger one, and it had long since stopped bleeding. Hell, she was pretty sure it had stopped before they reached the ship. It was caked over with a thin line of crusted blood.

Then there was a cut on her thigh that she had pretty much deemed 'not worth the time'. It wasn't a shallow injury, but it wasn't exactly a deep cut either. By the time she had got the blood to stop on her chest wound, the leg wound had already stopped. Well, mostly.

That was on the outside, though. She had no idea how bad the inside was. The main injury was a rather large gash that went cut right into her flesh somewhere below the ribcage, and was quite nasty to look at, to perfectly honest.

Mara's solution was to not look at it. Simple and effective, since it didn't even cross her mind after she let up on the pressure with the towel. Actually, that solution was remarkably similar to the one for her current predicament. She just wasn't bothering with it anymore.


	14. Chapter 14: A New Mission

**Chapter 14: A New Mission**

Screams of absolute terror filled her ears, easily slicing through the floorboards and dancing about the cells. In hindsight, she admitted that this should have been surprising. It should have been reason for concern.

Yet for some reason, it didn't bother her at all.

"No, no, you've got it all wrong," Mara muttered uncaringly, lifting her fingers in front of her face and not bothering to find the source of the noise. "The screaming is supposed to come from _within_ the cells. And they say _I'm_ bad at my job."

A chuckle overlapped the screams, sounding far closer. Like, in the same room. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a morbid person, Miss Mara?" Law stepped from the shadows, his nodachi resting on his shoulders.

The caged woman didn't shift a muscle, appearing not surprised that he was there. In reality, it was the exact opposite. "Says the man who enjoys taking people apart for the panic it creates," Mara refuted, slipping her eyes to him. It wasn't because of the threat he posed, being the dangerous man that he was, it was because she was curious how he would proceed.

And she was wondering why in the six hells of Impel Down he was there.

Law stepped toward the cell. "You're the only surviving agent sent to follow a Supernova," he informed her, his lips curling into a frown as he took the sight of her in. Bloody cloth, skin far too pale, blood pooling under her, hint of stomach gash peeking out, messy leg wound, dried trickle of blood running down the side of her face.

He could feel the anger rising again.

Mara's pulse increased but she didn't move, stubbornly keeping up her indifferent attitude. It was easy for her to see the blood splattered on his face and dripping from his hands, down his long slender fingers and pooling on the wooden floor. The aura of rage permeating the air around him was pretty clear, too. "I get the feeling that's about to change," she said in a bored fashion, looking back to her fingers tracing lines in the wooden floor.

"Room." Sapphire eyes remained glued to the floor. Her tracing didn't falter. The nodachi unsheathing met her ears and she heard the slice. "Shambles." She only looked up -in slight alarm- when the floor beneath her was gone and she was falling.

Strong arms caught her and she found herself held against a solid chest. Her eyes flickered up to look into Law's smirking face. Slowly, she looked back at the cell. The top half of the bars keeping her in were where she had been sitting. He must have replaced them with her when he cut them.

"Always so quick to think the worst of me," he muttered.

"Says the Surgeon of Death," she bit back without even thinking about it. Through their physical contact she could feel how taut his muscles were, coiled and ready to release his anger on the next thing that looked at him funny. Maybe she should stop looking at him funny.

Law laughed, the sound slightly strained. He allowed himself the time to reposition so she was sitting more comfortably in his arms. "You enjoy reminding me of that title, don't you?"

Her mouth beat her better instincts into the dirt with a blunt pole. "I enjoy trying to figure out why the hell you haven't killed me yet, _because of_ that title," she corrected. It was starting to get a little frustrating, actually. He wasn't the hero of the story. He wasn't supposed to kill the dragon (or co-workers) and save the girl.

The 'room' disappeared and Law began to walk back towards the deck. Neither of them spoke as he passed through the corridors; it was only reluctantly that she allowed her survival instincts to close her mouth. There were no marines in sight, all likely on deck dealing with whatever had them screaming.

And by 'whatever had them screaming', Mara meant 'having their bodies attached to things they shouldn't be attached to'. She was proven right as they stepped into the afternoon light. The marines were running all over the deck like chickens with their heads cut off.

A pair of legs attached to box ran by. Or, she supposed, humans with their heads cut off. That's what they actually were. "As much as I hate to admit it, Captain Trafalgar," the man looked down at her, "your power is _really _cool." Probably the coolest Devil Fruit she'd seen or heard of.

Law's smirk returned and he went over to the railing. "Captain!" Bepo waved from the deck of the yellow submarine, standing beside Shachi, Penguin, and large man Mara didn't recognize. "We need to go! The marines are still on our tail!"

The captain jumped to the lower deck with ease. Still he didn't put his captive down. "Prepare to dive. We're leaving."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Bepo said. All of them filed inside, closing the door. Mara could feel the ship submerging beneath the waves. Law carried her down the hall. The crew parted and disappeared into different doors, seeing to their jobs.

Vaguely, Mara wondered what he intended to do with her. All of the -quite numerous- experience she had with this sort of situation led to pain that lasted several days. A dark room. Her own blood pooling on the floor. And that was from the government.

What, then, would this furious pirate do to her?

Mara was ripped from her thoughts when cold metal pressed against her legs. It looked like she was back in the medical bay, sitting on the examination table. Again. She shifted uncomfortably and warily eyed Law as he stood not three feet away, looking her over. It was the steady gaze of someone who knew what they were doing and was very focused.

He reached forward and Mara flinched back instinctively before his fingers could brush her skin. Law paused, finally taking the time to look at her face. All he could see was suspicion hiding the shred of fear beneath her eyes. "Why are you so afraid of me?" Law asked quietly, pulling his hand back to a safe distance so as not to make her quite so uncomfortable.

There was the obvious, of course. He was a pirate captain who had captured her, a Cipher Pol agent, and was holding her on his ship. Despite that, there wasn't really a reason for her to be afraid of him. He couldn't recall ever actually _hurting_ her. Past, you know, ripping her heart from her chest.

Mara stayed silent for a moment as she shuffled away from him down the length of the table. He did not pursue her. "I know how the government punishes failure," she told him. She knew very well. "You're a pirate. How could you possibly be better?"

Law took a moment to look at her silently. "What failure?"

"I was knocked around and taken aboard a marine ship," Mara reminded him dryly, allowing some of her nature to creep back in.

"You're a marine," he said, as if it were all the explanation needed. Whether he meant that as an insult to her abilities or reaffirming where she was supposed to be, she didn't know.

"Who's being forced to work on a pirate ship so her heart doesn't get crushed," she finished harshly. "Stop being so high and mighty. Just do whatever the hell you plan to do. I can hardly stop you at this point." It was starting to get infuriating that he was acting like he didn't control her completely.

It was true and they both knew it. Law's stoic expression didn't change, though Mara could feel something intangible difference pass between them. He approached her again. When she flinched away this time, he took hold of her upper arm and held her in place firmly. There _was _nothing she could do to stop him, Law knew, so he plowed on without any more words.

Fear coursed through her. To be completely honest, she hadn't expected her goading to actually work. It hadn't in the past, and she had certainly tried much harder then. The man had the disposition of steel. It didn't seem like very much could affect him, no matter how hard she tried.

Using his free hand, he ran his fingers across her forehead. Mara hadn't even noticed the caked blood on her face until he touched it. His grip on her arm didn't loosen. He reached behind him and pulled a cloth from a nearby table.

Meticulously, he cleaned the blood from her face so he could get a better look at the wound. From what he could see, a quick strike with blunt force had caused the injury, and another that he found hidden under her chestnut hair.

Her shirts were yanked over her head and dropped on the floor without a second thought, leaving her practically bare. For the second time. In this room. The atmosphere this time felt completely different, even though the sentiment should have been the same.

With a practiced doctor's gaze he examined the wound on her torso. Firmly, he pushed her so that she was laid out on the table, exposing her vulnerable stomach. Not giving her time to feel any more uncomfortable about it, he pulled out a small sewing kit.

Without a word, he cleaned and stitched both wounds there so that they would no longer bleed. The leg wound came next, getting cleaned and wrapped in a perfectly white cloth. Mara didn't move a single muscle after the initial flinch. When he was done, Law took her by the upper arm again and pulled her to her feet.

She stood without a word and allowed him to pull her from the room. They moved down the long hallway in silence until they reached Law's room. He opened the door and, without bothering to close the door, yanked her over to her cot.

Her eyes widened as she was practically thrown onto it. She barely had time to brace for impact before she landed. Suddenly much more afraid than she had been before, she rolled onto her back to look at the captain, fully expecting him to be too close for comfort.

All she saw was the heel of his boot as the door shut behind him.

For a long while Mara just lay there, staring at the door. 'What the hell just happened?' she asked herself. To her, it felt like a very legitimate question. She refused to believe that he was mad because of her observation. Refused with no hope of re-evaluation.

For god's sake, she was right, after all. He had her god damned heart tied to his leg as if it were some kind of decoration! He could do whatever the hell he wanted to her and she wouldn't be able to protest, because if she did he could kill her without remorse!

So why in all the six hells of Impel Down did she feel _guilty_?! Because it was there, clawing at her gut. Guilt she didn't even know she possessed. Never in her life had she _ever_ felt guilty about _anything_. It was the exact same feeling she had felt back in the changing room that morning, staring down at the crumpled Jolly Roger. Why did it only deign to rear its head regarding her _pirate captor_?!

Mara growled in frustration and rolled over to she was facing the wall, wrapping her arms around her stomach in an attempt to quell the feeling. 'Shut the hell up, conscience,' she demanded internally. 'You have no right to appear so suddenly and for so stupid a reason.'

It occurred to her that she might feel guilty because they usually acted so civil around each other. That was simply inexcusable. They had only been civil so Mara wouldn't be in a living hell. Being civil had made the last stretch of her existence manageable.

Now, having seen the human auction, she was done with civility. What was she, one of those people on that stage who just took what was given to them? Even if that was captivity? Or was she the one who stood and said, 'No. I'll choose how I live. How I die.'

No. She wasn't going to take it lying down anymore. She was going to fight back with everything she had, be it words or fists. The only reason she didn't bite her tongue right there with her newfound resolve, was because she made a promise to herself.

Dying was easy. Making your death actually worth something, however, was a little bit harder. The gears in her mind were working as fast as they did before she had been captured. Plans were forming, decisions being made.

She was going to kill Trafalgar Law.

It was going to be the last thing she ever did. There was no doubt in her mind about that. The second the light left those stormy grey eyes, she would be falling to the ground, coughing up blood. Similar blood would seep from the metal box, likely still attached to his lifeless hip.

It was going to have to be soon. Like within a few days, soon. This much was necessary. Because she knew, she just _knew_, that if she waited…

…Mara Reade would fall for him.

And that would kill her far more painfully.


	15. Chapter 15: Need To Hate

**Chapter 15: Need To Hate**

Days ticked by. Law did not return to the room. The first night, this surprised the hell out of her. Why would the captain not return to his own room? Hell, if he didn't want to be near her, he could put her somewhere else. It was his right. Weren't pirates all about the power they held?

As the night went by, Mara became more adjusted to the idea that Law would not return to sleep in his bed. Fine. Whatever. It didn't disrupt her plans. She had all the time in the world to kill him, and one extra day wouldn't mean much.

By the time the second night came, Mara had to grudgingly admit that the guy was stubborn. Though she wasn't one to talk. Not once had she left the room since he had placed her there. This was simple stubborn pride. Even she admitted it. Though it _did_ occur to her that she might not be allowed to roam the ship anymore.

When the cabin darkened that second night, Mara decided she didn't care if the right had been revoked or not. She was hungry. Her plan wouldn't work if she starved herself. So out she stepped into the hall. No one was there. Curiously, she padded her way to the galley.

The large man she hadn't caught the name of was the only one in there. He was sitting at one of the tables, eating from a tray that sat in front of him. Mara eyed him. Something was awfully familiar about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

He looked up when she actually stepped into the room. Surprise coated his features beautifully as he took her in. She was clearly the last person he expected to see. "Finally hungry?" He asked at length, taking another bite of his own food.

Navy eyes flickered to his tray. "Yes."

The large man nodded and stood, disappearing into the kitchen. After several long minutes, he returned with another tray and placed it across from his own as he sat again. He noted that she hadn't moved from the doorway. "Then eat," he invited easily, trying to make her feel somewhat welcome.

Slowly, she walked toward his table and sat down, eyeing him before she eyed the food. It looked normal enough. Her knowledge of poisons was far from limited, however. "Did you join the crew at Sabaody, then?"

"Yeah, at the auction house," he confirmed readily. No need to hide the fact.

Mara didn't let the pity flit across her eyes like it wanted to. The last thing a former slave wanted was to be pitied. "I didn't see you inside." Such a large statured man would have been difficult to miss.

"I was outside," was the only explanation he gave. Mara didn't question him further, instead choosing to hesitantly eat her food. "You act as though you expect it to be poisoned," the large man observed.

"I do," she said bluntly. Even if it was poisoned, though, she likely wouldn't be killed by it. The agents had some pretty good immunities. Or it could be another one of Law's experiments. Given the last encounter she had with the man, she wouldn't be surprised.

Since he was finished with his food, he contented himself with watching her eat. There was a long stretch where neither spoke. "The only person on the ship to speak of you not in an unfavorable way is Bepo. Why is that?"

Mara took a bite of her food. For a minute, it looked like she didn't plan to answer. She took her time chewing her food, mulling over her answer cautiously. "Surely they've told you."

"They said you were from the government, but that the captain was coercing you into working with them," he recalled.

The woman gave an undignified snort. That was a great way to phrase it. "Yeah, 'coercing'. Did they tell you that he killed all the people I was working with?"

"I saw him do it," the man admitted, watching her closely. He was the only one in the crew to see the act, actually. There was something about her that put him on edge, even as she held herself completely unthreatening. He didn't like the amount of perception he saw in her eyes, nor the amount of intelligence. It was dangerous to hold someone like that captive. "It was right before we went to get you from the marine ship."

Of course it was. That was just lovely. Mara grunted in acknowledgement and took another bite. Stupid jackass. "Did they tell you that he stole a vital part of my anatomy?" She asked flippantly, sounding bored with the conversation.

"No."

Mara took another bite. "That's how he's 'coercing' me, the stubborn prick," she muttered the last part under her breath, but he caught it anyway. Carelessly with her index finger, she drew an 'X' above her heart and allowed the implications to speak for themselves.

As she expected, the implication hung in the air like a dead body. Commanding and in the way.

"You really don't like him, do you?" The man questioned once the implication had settled.

"I didn't get the chance to figure that out," she lied easily. She _had_ to hate him. She didn't know what she would do if she didn't. "Too busy trying not to get my heart crushed."

If the man sensed the lie, he didn't show it. "Bepo told me you didn't start like that, that it began in the auction house."

Mara rested her elbow on the table and sat her chin in her palm as she swirled her fork through the food on her tray. "I got a little perspective. Sue me."

"This ship is far from slavery," he said, his voice heavy with the weight of his past. Under normal circumstances, it would have tugged at her heart strings.

"For you, perhaps," was her simple response.

The man frowned at her attitude. He knew that she was more free on this ship than some people were in their everyday lives. "What exactly has the captain done to you? From what I heard-"

"I don't care what the hell you heard!" Mara snapped, finally getting annoyed. "Isn't holding my life on his god damn hip enough to let me hate him?! I'm not a pirate! I was trained on the other side of the coin, in case you've forgotten!"

No, she wasn't a pirate. Yes, she had been trained by the World Government. But she was still lying. Staying on the submarine was the most freedom and respect she had ever gotten. What did that say about her life, she wondered?

Still she lied, though. She lied to protect herself. She wasn't supposed to feel more freedom while captive. She wasn't supposed to be friends with pirates. That was the way of the world. _Her _world. "To me, this is hell," Mara muttered.

Her voice was too pained for him not to realize the lie for what it was. Someone who had known her longer wouldn't hear it, perhaps, because of an opinion of her already formed. But for him, just meeting her, he heard it as if she had told him.

_Isn't holding my life on his god damn hip enough to let me hate him?!_ The words rang clear in his mind. The way she had phrased it… there was something unnatural with the wording. It was as if she were questioning herself as much as she was the man across from her. She was trying to convince herself to hate him, with all that she could.

"Jean Bart," he introduced after a long, tense silence. What else was there to do at this point?

Her brow rose in amusement, the creases of pain slowly dissipating. "Mara Reade." And then she knew exactly why he had looked familiar. Pirate captain turned Tenryuubito slave, Jean Bart. She had read about him once.

"This was certainly an interesting introduction, Mara," Jean said, his lips quirking up at the edges. Well, that was one way to put it.

A laugh slowly rose from Mara, soon to be joined by Jean. The tension in the air left as quickly as if someone had turned on a fan. "Indeed." When the laughter died down, Mara cocked her head and looked at the large man. "I'm sorry for venting at you."

Jean shrugged. "Everyone needs it every once in a while. People like us most of all," he said, purposefully lumping them into the same category.

Her head remained cocked for a moment as she contemplated him. 'People like us. Hm.' Mara stood. "I guess I'll head back. Never really asked if I was still allowed to walk around the ship," she commented casually.

"You and the captain get in a fight or something?" He asked, finally able to inquire what had been on his mind since she walked in.

Mara stretched, popping her back. Man, that felt good. "Eh, I may have shouted some of my perspective at him, too."

Jean just chuckled at the careless statement. "I see."

Mara just gave a single nod. "I think I'll be heading back now. Would hate to be caught somewhere I might not be allowed to be." The roll of her eyes said something completely different.

"You don't _want_ him to catch wind of you doing something you shouldn't be, forcing him to show up and correct the situation?" Jean teased.

That had been a thought, yes. Mostly it was about wanting food before she starved, but that would have been lucky beyond belief. Mara waved her hand flippantly. "'Course not."

Both of them knew she was lying.

"G'night, Jean Bart," Mara called, throwing her hand over her shoulder in a lazy wave as she walked away. It was really too bad. If the circumstances were different, she would have really liked Jean Bart. He seemed like the kind of person she could get along with easily.

Ten minutes passed. Jean Bart continued to sit there, watching the place Mara had disappeared from. As if he were waiting for something to happen, something to appear in that exact spot. When three more uneventful minutes passed, the large man stacked the two trays up. Whatever he was expecting to happen wasn't intending to happen on its own.

In reality, he wasn't waiting for something to magically appear. No, he was expecting something far more rational. "That girl has a fire in her you don't see very often," he commented lightly, to no one and nowhere in particular. He stood near the table and waited once again.

"I know." It was soft. So soft he wouldn't have heard it if he weren't waiting for it.

Good. Progress. "The kind of fire that makes men want to grab hold, even if it burns them," Jean continued. His insight didn't go unnoticed. There was no reply. "You can't trap fire like that. It'll take the trap with it as it burns or fizzle and die, in the end."

"I know." It was a little louder, a little more firm.

Without another word, Jean moved into the kitchen to wash the two trays. He was glad that Mara hadn't been inclined to do so herself, for once glad of the labor he did. He didn't even want to imagine what her probably volatile reaction would look like.

There, sitting against the far wall, was Law, his face shadowed by the brim of his fluffy white hat. Exactly where Jean had left him earlier when he got Mara's dinner for her.


	16. Chapter 16: Denial

**A/N:** _Thanks for all the amazing reviews! I love hearing what you guys think._

* * *

**Chapter 16: Denial**

The third day saw Mara the same as the first. Sitting in Law's room, waiting for him to decide he was the captain and claim the captain's quarters again. She wasn't terribly surprised when he didn't show up that day, either.

Lucky for her, he had a bookcase in his room and many interesting books to leaf through. The first half of the day she spent going through a book on herbs. The second half had her thumbing through one on chemistry and volatile mixtures.

At least she wasn't bored that day.

On the fourth day, she decided she should probably eat again. That's what the near-constant growling told her, anyway. Instead of waiting until night to fall -her stomach wouldn't let her- she wandered out sometime in the middle of the day. It was approximately the time her stomach won the battle, give or take a few minutes.

Mara saw and heard crewmembers on her way to the galley that time. Being the middle of the afternoon, they were all quite lively. The ones that saw her, however, gave her suspicious and annoyed looks as she passed. None of them attempted to talk to her. Or stop her, so that was good at least.

For some reason, she was relieved when she entered the galley. This time it was empty. She ate on her own, slowly forcing the food down. Eating so infrequently wasn't good for her health, but neither was cramming the food down her throat when she got it. So she munched her way through the meal, cleaned her plate, and began the trek back to Law's room.

Somewhere along the corridors, she heard an interesting announcement. They were going to be surfacing for a short time Her steps paused as she warred with herself. She really wanted to go stand outside. Like, really bad. But it would not be void of Heart Pirates. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully as she rolled the idea around in her head.

Sun would be nice. Not to mention, it would be pretty hard to kill Law if she never saw him. And with his current track record, she couldn't count on him returning to his room in the foreseeable future. Especially since she didn't know the reason he was keeping away.

In the end, the situational pros won out and she turned around.

By the time she reached the door to the deck, the submarine had surfaced. Slowly, she peeked her head out the door. Jean, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, and Law were all there. The former four were gathered near the center of the deck, talking to each other. Law stood near the rail at the back, looking out at the ocean.

Jean was the first to notice her. He waved her out joyously, giving her no way to duck back inside without catching the attention of the rest. She wasn't sure if she wanted to or not. "Mara, good to see you out and about again," he greeted, tone friendly.

"Hello, Jean," she greeted casually, allowing the door to swing open the rest of the way so she could walk over to the large man.

"We were beginning to worry you went and died in there," he commented off-hand. "You should come out more."

Mara doubted the rest of the crew felt the same. Her randomly dying would probably make their lives easier. "Oh, I'm sure I'll kick the bucket one of these days." Worry flashed across Penguin's and Shachi's faces before they could mask it. It wasn't worry for her, she observed as his eyes flickered across the deck to Law.

It hit her like a tidal wave. They knew. They all knew about her very imminent plan to kill their captain, that her mindset had changed when they got her back from the marine ship. That was why he wasn't going back to his room. That was why everyone looked at her suspiciously, as if they were ready to drawn their weapons on her. Because they _were_ ready to draw their weapons on her.

"That'd be a pity. You might end up missing the event the entire world is looking forward to," Jean told her.

Her brow rose in skeptical question. "What?" Jean looked to Penguin expectantly and Mara noted the weathered newspaper in the man's hand.

Reluctantly, Penguin handed it to her. "You might as well know."

Mara scanned the page. 'Fire Fist' Ace had an execution scheduled for three in the afternoon the day after tomorrow. Her eyes widened and she re-read it several times. That couldn't be right, such things usually announced with more advance notice.

Her eyes drifted to the date on the paper. The day they attended the human auction in Sabaody. Fair enough. It was her fault she hadn't learned about it earlier. "This is calling for war with Whitebeard," she observed with a furrowed brow. "They can't be this stupid, can they?"

"Careful, that's your people your insulting again," Law commented from across the deck.

"You just can't give me one, can you, Captain Trafalgar?" She muttered, not really paying attention to him, her focus more on the paper. It took a lot of focus not to look over at him, so much so that she was having trouble actually reading the article.

He turned to face the group, leaning against the rail, bored expression firmly on his face. "Not when you so adamantly insist that you think like them."

"I do, mostly," she protested mildly. "Some of the things they do are just… stupid, though. Human auctions, war with a Yonko… not to mention all the allies Whitebeard has made... A blind man could see the flaws." The man was practically an army by himself. Adding all of the people considered his friends and allies, and yet still goading him was pure idiocy.

It was also going to be broadcast for the entire world to see. They had some balls.

"Do you really?" Law wondered, bluntly challenging her.

Mara tore her eyes away from the paper to look at the captain. There were several long moments where she did nothing. Penguin and Shachi glanced at each other in worry. Then her eyes narrowed on the tattooed man dangerously. "Excuse me?"

Law shrugged. "From what I've seen, your way of thinking is decidedly pirate-like," he told her. The challenge in his eyes was as obvious as the one in his words.

Mara thrust the paper into Jean's stomach harder than she intended to. He took it from her without comment and the three Heart Pirates watched the angry woman advance on their captain. She didn't stop until she could stab him in the stomach with her finger. "You should stop acting so high and mighty," she hissed. "You're not any better than them."

"And you should re-evaluate your view of your government," he retorted easily, not allowing himself to become irritated. He was baiting her for a very specific reason and it wouldn't help for her to get distracted from his words by his frustration.

With every heated word, she leaned closer, her words turning into near-hisses. "The entire world hates you," she reminded him harshly. "There's nowhere to turn when you get tired. No one who will look at you with a sincere smile. All pirates eventually fall, even that king you all revered. Why should I be the one re-evaluating?"

"Yet you're the one who's miserable with everyday life." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off sharply. "Don't you dare deny it. I've seen firsthand the marks of how your life was treating you. You want to escape your precious government more than anything, but for some reason you refuse to believe it."

They had gotten close enough to where they were only an inch apart, glaring daggers at each other. Her finger was still jabbed into his chest. "You kidnap and you murder. You destroy lives," Mara hissed angrily.

"And _you're_ the one who likes my power," Law shot back without hesitation.

If it was even possible, her eyes narrowed further. She opened her mouth to speak… and suddenly became _very_ aware of how close the man was. Her mouth snapped shut as her mind caught up to her realization.

Mara had no idea if Law had realized it yet, or if it even bothered him. It sure as hell didn't look like it. The anger hung in the air around them in a way that made the three behind her shift uncomfortably, though she was having trouble holding onto it.

His face was even more attractive up close and, despite the lack of his usual smirk, she found him very appealing. Unblinking smoky eyes were locked with her own, holding her, commanding her attention for the first time in days.

Mara couldn't tear her gaze away, no matter how hard she tried. Law was completely captivating in a way she hadn't noticed until they were so close, and now she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to look at him in a detached way again.

The desire to use that hand near his chest to yank him closer hit her as hard as the earlier realization. It effectively knocked the breath from her and she recoiled her hand as if burned. No, that temptation could not stay there.

The Heart Pirates were all caught off guard when she, without warning, turned and fled full speed back down below deck. They could hear her growling something incoherently under her breath as she passed them, her expression dark.

Law lifted his hat and a ran a hand through his short, messy raven hair. "Looks like I did it again." And this time he hadn't just been trying to bother her and get under her composed façade, though that was probably what she still saw it as.

"I'd say so, captain," Penguin agreed. None of them spoke for a long while. All were looking at their captain, who was staring at the door thoughtfully.

It was Shachi who broke the unnerving quiet that settled. "What are we going to do about her? We can't just keep her here. She's a threat and you know it."

Law shook his head. "I don't think we have to worry about that for the time being." If his assessment of the situation was correct, Mara would hole up in his room for an entirely different reason now. Likely, she wouldn't emerge until they reached Sabaody once again.

"Why did you bait her like that?" Jean inquired. He could tell it had been on purpose, but he was having trouble seeing the point.

Law didn't answer. It was exactly as he said to her earlier. He wanted her to realize that she didn't like the World Government any more than he did. That it made her completely miserable, because it clearly did. He wanted her to forsake that world. Even if he _did_ answer Jean Bart's question, Law knew he would lie. Because, yes, he wanted her to realize all those things.

But they were just a means to an end.


	17. Chapter 17: War Has Begun

**Chapter 17: War Has Begun**

The fifth day, Mara knew they were heading back to Sabaody Archipelago. From what she could tell, they hadn't gone all that far from the island over the past few days. Maybe it was because they wanted to wait and see the execution on the screens that would be provided there.

That was all she could assume. Law was a part of the new generation, after all, and this was likely to bring about a new era. No matter what happened, something would be lost from the world. Some power would gain more of a hold. How could any of the Supernovas miss it if they intended to storm the New World?

She didn't leave Law's room that day either.

The sixth day, the day of the execution, brought her above deck. She had been right in her assessment; they were back on Sabaody. Law looked at her as she joined them all on deck. From where the sub was docked, they could see the large screens well enough. Law, however, looked like he intended to get a closer seat and take most of his crew with him, even electing to bring Mara along.

She said nothing, following after the group with interest. It was a curious thing how he intended to bring her along, to a crowded place full of opportunities. Was he really so confident in his abilities, or was he confident she wouldn't try anything?

Probably a little of both, she decided after a while. She was too curious about the war to consider killing off the man. Perhaps she would do it later, after the show was over. She nodded to herself. Yeah, that's what she'd do.

They placed themselves on the ground, in a small emptier area in front of the three giant screens the marines had erected. The large open space closer to the screens was packed, but back near the tree line was relatively quiet.

The execution wasn't for another six hours. They sat themselves down to watch. None of them expected Whitebeard to wait that long to make his move. He wanted his 'son' back safe and sound. There was no way he'd let the time get too close. They waited in silence for three hours for something interesting to happen.

During that time, Mara amused herself by locating all of the Supernovas. She could see them, spread out all over the place. The only two missing were the two men from the Strawhat crew, Luffy and Zoro. In the back of her mind, she wondered where they were. Surely even that reckless man wouldn't miss a big event like this.

When there were only three hours left, the marines led Ace up to the execution platform. Mara had met him once, while she was observing someone completely unrelated. They had talked while they ate at a restaurant and then they had never seen each other again.

He looked completely different: beaten, worn down, his spirit broken.

He was missing his hat.

Mara knew that Impel Down was a terrible place. She had never personally been inside, but she had helped to deliver prisoners to the gates once. She never wanted to go back ever again. When the front doors opened to accept the prisoners, the screams that had met them turned her blood cold.

Despite that, she didn't think it would have broken Ace. She remembered his personality well. He didn't seem to concerned about his own well-being, instead focusing on that of his crewmates. Something like this wouldn't give him the look he was sporting on his face.

So what, then, had mentally harmed this proud creature?

Mara could see the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, climb the stairs to stand beside Ace, motioning to take the Den Den Mushi from a nearby marine so he could speak to the audience. "Men, I have something crucial to tell you all. Something about the true meaning of Portgas D. Ace meeting his end here today!"

Mara's brows rose and she kicked back to lay on the grass. "Oh, my, are they going to reveal that?" Law looked at her questioningly but she refused to meet his gaze.

"Ace," Sengoku. "Tell me the name of your father!"

Ace didn't look pleased in the least by the turn of events. As if killing him weren't bad enough. "My father? Huh… at a time like this…" He paused. "My father is Whitebeard!"

"He is not!" Sengoku declared.

"Yes, he is!" Ace shouted. "WHITEBEARD IS MY ONLY FATHER! I HAVE NO OTHER!"

Sengoku frowned at the man's persistence. "Back then, we searched as though our lives depended on it. Searched for the possibility that there existed on that island a child of that man. Based on nothing but the tiniest of leads from Cipher Pol, we investigated all newborn children, all children who were yet to be born, and all of their mothers, but ultimately found nothing."

Law caught on to the rest of the story without the man finishing. "You have an impressive array of knowledge, Miss Mara," he murmured.

"That, Captain Trafalgar, is why they want me dead," came the pointed response.

"Or so we thought," Sengoku continued. "But out of pure obstinacy, your mother had risked her life to perform a certain trick with regard to your birth! And it was this trick that deceived our eyes… no… the eyes of the world! In the South Blue, there lies an island by the name of Baterilla. Your mother's name was Portgas D. Rogue. She performed a feat that we could never have imagined, and out of devotion to her child, bore him in her womb for a full twenty months! And when the birth finally came, her strength all but spent… she left this world as you entered it."

The look on Ace's face was murder as he glared at the ground.

"One year and three months from the father's death, a child was born bearing the most accursed blood to be found in this world." Ace's teeth clenched. "That child is you. Do not claim that you are not aware! Your father is none other than the Pirate King, GOLD ROGER!"

The pain of the words looked like it punched Ace right where it hurt most. Murmuring and silence sprang up all at once, clashing with each other strangely.

"Two years ago, it was. Choosing to take your mother's name, you had risen with frightening speed and remarkable power to notability as captain of the Spade Pirates. It was then that we finally realized, that Roger's blood still lived on!"

"That man..!" Mara said through clenched teeth. She had honestly liked Ace. Seeing him in such a state, with such a thing being announced… "Leave him alone..!" Silently, Law looked over at the woman once again. It was astounding she hadn't considered piracy in the past, and just as astounding that she rejected the idea so adamantly now.

"But Whitebeard came to the same realization as we did. He chose to take the son of his own dead rival onto his own ship, that he might raise him to be the next Pirate King!"

"NO!" Ace shouted. "I joined his crew so that I could make him the Pirate King-"

"You are the only one who believes that," Sengoku interrupted. "We were unable to lay a finger on you from that moment forth. You were protected by Whitebeard himself!" Ace looked completely shocked. "And if we were to allow you to roam free for long enough, you would be sure, slowly but surely, to obtain the necessary caliber to stand at the summit of a new era of piracy! That is why it is absolutely imperative that we take your head here today! EVEN IF THAT MEANS GOING TO WAR WITH WHITEBEARD HIMSELF!" He shouted forcefully.

Suddenly, chaos seemed to erupt around the execution platform. Mara was hardly surprised when all of Whitebeard's allies appeared at Marineford within the next minute. The Whitebeard family was a close-knit one, and Ace was clearly in distress. They wouldn't leave him there alone another moment if they could help it.

From the bottom of the bay itself, the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's flag ship, sprang, along with three other ships from the Yonko's fleet. The old man himself stood at the bow. "My beloved son had better be safe and sound!" Whitebeard declared. "You just hang in there a little longer, Ace!"

"OLD MAN!" Ace yelled. Many of the things being said were hard to catch in the chaos that followed. Whitebeard punched the air, literally cracking it, and sent a tidal wave over the marine fleet.

"When did you learn about it?" Law asked curiously, keeping his eyes on the battle.

Mara shrugged. "I'm in Cipher Pol. We were the ones that found the lead in the first place. So, pretty early on I suppose. Around the time they got the lead, I think."

"Did you ever meet Ace?" Law asked. Her reactions made him think she had.

"I did, once. We ate lunch together; I was on a job to watch some rising pirate captain. I don't recall the guy's name; he died a year and a half ago in the New World."

"Old man… guys… Even after I ignored your warnings and ran out on my own… WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME?! IT'S MY OWN FAULT IT ENDED LIKE THIS!" Ace's words cut through the conversation easily and they both eyed the screen.

"No," Whitebeard denied. "As I recall, it was I who told you to go after him, my son."

Ace looked shocked at the declaration. That was not how he remembered it. "You liar! What the hell are you talking about?! I ran out back even though you told me to-"

"I told him to go, isn't that right, Marco?" Whitebeard asked the man behind him, cutting off the man on the execution platform.

"Indeed," the man, Marco, agreed. "I heard it with my own ears! We're sorry for putting you through all this trouble, Ace! I think everyone in the whole wide ocean ought to know… JUST WHAT HAPPENS TO ANY DAMNED FOOL WHO LAYS A HAND ON A MEMBER OF OUR CREW!"

"WE WON'T LEAVE A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE BASTARDS WHO HURT YOU ALIVE, ACE!" Another member of the crew agreed.

A third chimed in. "YOU JUST WAIT! WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU!"

"YOU JUST WAIT, MARINE HEADQUARTERS!"

The tidal wave Whitebeard created returned, then, coming upon the island from both sides. "ICE AGE!" One of the Admiral's, Aokoji, leapt forward and the waves turned to solid ice. The pirates took this as their cue to charge the marines, leaping from their ships and shouting battle cries.

They watched the ensuing battle without ever taking their eyes off it. "I liked Ace," Mara confessed. "He was kind in a way that I had never experienced before."

"Are you rooting for the pirates, Miss Mara?" Law asked, a slight teasing edge to his tone.

Mara watched the battle. "…Maybe," she said, as if wondering about that herself. The thought disturbed her. Was she really considering rooting for Whitebeard? Their pain and suffering seemed so tangible to her. She didn't want Ace to die. All the pain that it would cause all those people…

Forty-nine warship plus the four from Whitebeards own fleet had shown up. Them, plus all the rest of the fleet, would be in pain. Over the death of one man, who was being put to death because of what his father did over twenty years ago.

It was wrong.

Abruptly, she stood up. "I'm going to go get something to eat." It was a reasonable enough excuse, she hadn't eaten since the day before yesterday.

Law nodded, he was well aware of her situation. "Be careful."

The simple phrase made her pause. 'What..? No.' She shook her head and departed without looking back. She didn't want to watch the war anymore. She didn't want any more quality time with Trafalgar Law.

Damn these pirates! Why were they fucking with her emotions this much?! These things should not be able to take hold of her so easily. If she wasn't careful, she might even end up rooting for that crazy-ass Strawhat boy.

Later, she realized she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings instead of storming off with all-consuming thoughts. Maybe if she had, she would have noticed the figure land on the road behind her. Maybe she would have noticed him follow her until she was an unsafe distance away from other living humans.

But those thoughts didn't come until later.


	18. Chapter 18: Penchant For Trouble

**Chapter 18: Penchant For Trouble**

The prickling feeling on the back of her neck notified her too late and she spun around, coming face to… well, chest, with none other than Eustass Kid. Slowly, her eyes ran up his body until she was looking at his malicious grin. "Trafalgar should learn to keep a better leash on his woman."

Mara bristled at the term. "I am not that man's woman!" She snapped.

He laughed at the anger he brought about. "Could have fooled me, with the way you were acting at the auction house."

"Fuck off, Kid," Mara said through clenched teeth. Why was it that every time she walked away from Law, something happened to her? Hopefully nothing would this time, but she wasn't holding out much hope for that. Her luck wasn't that good.

His head cocked to the side, the grin never leaving his face. "Didn't think Law had it in him to get a kitty with claws. Doesn't seem the type."

Deciding it was probably best to ignore him, she turned on her heel and continued walking. His heavy footsteps could be heard right behind her. "What the hell do you want?" She snapped over her shoulder at him.

"To knock Trafalgar down a peg."

Didn't everyone? He could just get in line.

A noise of disinterest made its way from her throat. "Oh?" There were plenty of reasons a man with Kid's demeanor would want to do that, though she was fairly certain there was an agreement between the Supernovas to not fight before they got to the New World. "I'm hardly surprised. And, honestly, I'd love to see you do it."

Kid laughed, letting her know he was still right behind her. "So a crazy bastard like that even gets to his crew."

"Not on his crew," Mara rebutted, not even hesitating. Having the much stronger man behind her was making her indescribably nervous, but she didn't dare turn around. It would raise his ego to know he was worrying her. "What's this got to do with me?"

Absolutely nothing. She was just a convenient tool. "Leverage."

The blunt statement made her body react before her mind. She dropped to the ground, flattening just enough to get away from his snatching grab. She continued into a roll, coming up a few feet from him. This time, she didn't show him her back. "That would be a terrible tactic. I'm mean less than nothing to Captain Trafalgar."

He tilted his head back and to the side, giving her a once over, grin still not faltering. His confidence was irritating. "I don't believe you."

"I'm a captive," she said slowly, hoping it would sink into his obviously thick skull. "Prisoner. Slave. On board entertainment. Whatever you want to call it." Gods, it didn't look like it was reaching him at all. Mara felt a cold sweat start on the back of her neck.

Kid laughed. Loudly. "What kind of a prisoner gets to walk around an island alone?" No, she meant something far more to the Surgeon.

"A lucky one," she retorted, the words just coming out. There was little time to really stop and consider. Did she really consider herself lucky? "I thought you Supernovas had all decided not to cause problems until you got to the New World."

He motioned to the screens. "The admirals and their warships appear to be busy."

Adrenaline pushed her muscles into motion. Mara shot past him, running as fast as her legs could carry her back towards the screens. Why, _why_ had she walked so far away? The thought of needing protection had never crossed her occupied mind. Not that it would have crossed her prideful mind any other time, but that wasn't the point at the moment.

Something was very wrong, she realized. Her hips, shins, and feet were all being pulled backwards. With a cry, she fell forward as her legs were ripped from beneath her. On the upside, her face never hit the dirt.

On the downside, she was being yanked through the air back to Kid. Hastily, she attempted to rid herself of her concealed weapons, but they were attached well and it was much too late. She was far too close for it to matter anymore.

With a grunt, she slammed right into his hard body. Mara could feel the fingers curling around her throat and then she was being held aloft for him to examine. "Fast. Not fast enough."

Despite the futility of the situation, Mara thrashed violently in his hold. "Let me go, bastard!" She kicked and punched anything she could hit.

All the attacks seemed to hit a wall of solid muscle and not cause any harm whatsoever. Getting annoyed with the hits, Kid took her and slammed her back into the nearest wall as hard as he could. Which, from her now-personal experience, was pretty hard.

Black took over her vision momentarily. "Get kidnapped once, and suddenly that's all you can do anymore," she muttered as she tried to clear her vision.

The Supernova's shadow loomed over her threateningly.

"Why now?" Mara got out, attempting to stall whatever he was doing until she was oriented and could respond properly. By properly, she meant violently. "Why not before, when he was right next to you?"

"I didn't have a reason to knock the cocky fucker off his high horse before," Kid admitted.

"What could have possibly changed between now and-" Mara cut herself off as it dawned on her. "Oh." What was the one thing that changed regarding the Supernovas? "You caught wind of the agents that were following you guys." And based on his changed demeanor, it hadn't been until after Law took care of them all.

Kid's expression soured. "Word spread pretty quickly when Trafalgar hunted everyone down to brutally murder nine government spies." Hiding right under every single one of their noses.

"He made you look like fools," Mara finished. "Since he was the only one who detected he was being followed. Even though he's worth less than you, he did something you couldn't." That was like salt in an open would to a man like Eustass Kid.

"And now you're going to help me put him back in his place."

There was only one thing she could do. There was about a one percent chance it would work, but still she had to try. She sucked all the breath into her lungs that she could. "LAW!" Mara shrieked as loud as she possibly could, completely dropping the formal way she always addressed him.

That was all she could do before Kid was on her, dominating her mouth with his own. She refused to gasp as her body's reflexes told her to, instead clamping her mouth shut with all the force she could muster.

His free hand traveled down her waist to rest on her hip, keeping her squirming body in place with bruising force. All Mara could think to do was struggle, even if she knew it would never work. Even if she knew it was just making the dominating man want more.

Kid attempted to pry her mouth open with his, unsuccessfully. She could feel his grin this time instead of actually seeing it, and it sickened her. Her efforts turned to pushing, since he didn't even seem to feel the hitting. She shoved him with all her might. The only response she got was the hand around her neck tilting upwards to grab her jaw and force her to open that way.

The second there was enough of an opening, Kid's tongue shot into her mouth. She bit the intruding muscle instantly, and he pulled away laughing. He was still right in front of her, face right up next to hers, wicked grin firmly back in place.

"I can see why Law likes you so much," Kid commented lightly, taking his hand off of her hip to wipe the blood trickling down his chin. This may not have been about her at all, but she was certainly making it more fun for him. "I can only imagine what it would be like to break you."

Mara's blood ran cold at his words. "Let me go," she breathed, unable to muster anything else to deter him.

"I don't think I will. How long until Trafalgar notices you're missing, I wonder?" Her hips, shins, and feet were suddenly pinning themselves to the wall. All he had to do to hold her down was use the hand her had wrapped around her neck. "We'll probably be in the New World by then."

She could feel his free hand trail down her body, from shoulder to waist. Then he swooped in to claim her mouth once more. The struggle started up again instantly, though she only had use of her arms now. She was lucky she didn't wear metal bracelets.

Mara knew he would fix that if he managed to get away with her.

It happened so suddenly that it took several seconds for her to register the change. The rough and commanding mouth on hers was gone with the force of a truck hitting the man and tossing him away. She sucked in the gasp that escaped, trying to get all the air she could back into her tired lungs. A cough escaped her and she looked up to see what had happened.

Her heart may have stopped. Trafalgar Law stood directly in front of her, facing Kid who was pushing himself back to his feet with a glare. "Fuck," he muttered.

The glare didn't even compare the fury radiating off the usually smirking captain. "Mind explaining things to me, Mister Eustass?" Law asked, his tone calm while his expression and stance screamed murder most foul.

"I've never explained myself to anybody, and I'm sure as hell not going to start with your ass, Trafalgar," Kid informed the other captain gruffly.

"Room." The tell-tale blue dome appeared around them all. Law glanced at Mara and passed his sword in front of his hand. "Scan." Mara gasped as she fell to the ground, no longer stuck to the wall by the weapons that were by Law's feet. He caught her and helped her stand, pulling her to his body. One arm around her waist, he rose his nodachi to point at Kid. "Go back to your crew, Mister Eustass. This is the only chance you'll get."

Kid growled. He didn't like being given orders any more than Law did. The worst part was, though, the little tattooed prick had the upper hand. The other Supernovas probably wouldn't let them kill each other in the streets. Not today. There would be no patience for this conflict when the war with Whitebeard was going on. Every last one of the Supernovas would interfere just to get them to shut the hell up.

"This isn't over, Trafalgar," Kid ground out.

"I think you'll find that it is."

Without another word, but a glare that could kill, Kid walked away. They didn't see where he went to and they didn't much care, but they could only assume he had returned to his crew. The blood on his mouth and the side of his head would probably take some explaining, something Mara sorely wished she could see.

The dome disappeared. Law turned to face Mara. His gaze softened when the woman took a reflexive step away from him. "Still expecting the worst from me, I see," he muttered thoughtfully. "Let me see," he commanded lightly and when he took a step towards her, she didn't move.

Close enough. At least she wasn't backing away from him. His cool, slender fingers gently ran across her neck. Mara flinched from the sting that erupted when he did, and he frowned. All his prodding did was remind her that _yet again_, she had been saved by that damn pirate.

One of these days it would be Trafalgar Law who was in life threatening danger and the only one within range to help him would be Mara Reade. When that time came and their roles were reversed, Mara would not lift a finger to help him. Hell, she hoped she'd be the one to bring him down to the weak state he always seemed to find her in.

"You're missing the war because of me," Mara mused. She supposed that she felt a tad bit sorry for that, because this war defined the new age they would all be living in. On the other hand, she was pleased to be making him miss some.

"War will always be here. If I had not come, you would not be," he said simply. "This is going to bruise. Few other side effects," He told her, indicating to her neck. His eyes worked over her slowly, looking for any other signs of injury. "Did he grab you anywhere else?" he asked finally.

Mara honestly didn't want to answer that. Having it happen to her and having to talk to this man about it was embarrassing as hell. So she didn't. She just watched him as his eyes looked for what he knew she wasn't telling him.

There was one really easy way to tell if Kid had sunk his fingers into her anywhere else, but Law found that inadvisable. All he would have to do was run his fingers over her until she flinched in pain. Not the most professional method, especially given the current circumstances, but it would be effective. He wouldn't do that, however. He would allow her the small dignity she had left.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just let him take me?" Mara questioned after his probing stare started to become uncomfortable. He must have been booking it to make it to them in the short amount of time that he had. They were barely within shouting distance, something Mara hadn't actually thought was a thing. Her call was more of a last-ditch effort kind of thing.

"If I took the easy way, I wouldn't be a pirate."

The fact that he wasn't using the tactic that both of them knew would be effective made Mara pause. Yes, she had thought of it, too. Touching her would find any bruises without question. Yet, for some reason, Law wasn't doing it.

There were several more minutes of silence as he continued to search with his eyes. "My hip," Mara said quietly. Law looked up at her face for the first time since he saved her. His expression darkened instantly, though she wasn't sure why. "Kid grabbed my hip." She could just feel the bruises forming already.

It was as if time stopped when his stormy gaze settled onto her hip. The area was covered by both the skin tight black shirt that tucked into her pants, and the slightly looser fitting black pants. He would have to move both articles to see the problem.

Even though he knew where it was now, he didn't move.

Once again Mara was surprised. Vaguely, she noted that a lot of the things Law did surprised her. She tore her eyes away from him and pulled up the hem of her black shirt, so that it was bunched around her stomach. Then she pulled the hem of her pants down until it showed the curve of her hip on the left side.

It looked like Law took that as an indication to examine it. He kneeled down and ran his fingers over the area, his brows furrowing in concentration. Mara watched his face with interest. From what she had seen, when he played doctor he was usually clinically detached. This was something new.

Her mind trailed down a different path then, as she looked at him kneeling there, fingers on her skin. Would she have fought Law with such vigor had he been the one pressing against her? From what she was seeing, he wasn't the type to do that sort of thing.

But in the purely theoretical situation…

"Internal bleeding, alongside the severe bruising," Law observed after a while. "The area is going to hurt for a while." There wasn't a whole lot he could do besides put medicine on it to make the pain lessen. His lips curled down.

Would she have punched him? Kicked him? She wondered. Would she have grabbed him, to encourage him? Would it have mattered at all? The last question cut through the others dryly. He still had her heart. So, in theory, she would have been able to fight him even less than Kid.

The other part of her mind was unsatisfied with that answer.

The feel of her shirt being pulled back down brought her back. Law stood up, having already fixed her clothes. "I shouldn't have let this happen." He knew the kinds of enemies he made when he went through and showed up the rest of the Supernovas by killing their stalkers.

Mara sent him an odd look. "It was my fault. I went walking on my own."

"And I shouldn't have let you." Law gathered up her weapons and handed them back to her. She replaced them under her clothes. "When we're off the ship, you're not to leave my side. Understood, Miss Mara?"

Her lips tugged into a frown. Nothing would have pleased her more than to punch him right in the face. Why was the universe conspiring to make her look weak in front of him? She didn't bother responding, only showing her distaste through her frown.

Which he completely ignored in favor for digging around in his pocket. A small scrap of white gauze was retrieved and he stepped closer to her without a word or even an emotion to tell her his plan. One tattooed hand landed on her shoulder, firmly holding her in place. The other lifted the cloth to her face, where he meticulously wiped it against her surprised lips.

"What..." She began, only to have the partially asked question answered moments later, when he tossed the cloth away from him. It was stained purple. Her hand flew to her mouth. Kid's lipstick.

Lesson of the day learned: Mara really wasn't very fond of Sabaody Archipelago.

God damn, she had to stop feeling like he had just saved her and she owed him. It was his fault she had been in that position. If he hadn't stolen her heart, she never would have been molested by Eustass Kid in the first place. She was going to beat that part of her brain down every time it reared it's stupid ass head.

Reminding herself that it would be him in need of help next time, she followed the once again laid back man to where his crew remained. They all looked over at the two curiously. If any of them knew what had happened, though, they didn't show it, and they all settled back down to see what more the war had in store.

Things were going… interestingly. Answering her question of where Strawhat was, the boy literally fell from the sky with a boatload of prisoners, right into the fighting. Why this happened wasn't exactly answered, but it was revealed that he and Ace were brothers, something Mara didn't see coming at all. Especially since she had read the files that said Luffy was the revolutionary Dragon's son, not the son of Gol D. Roger.

Emporio Ivankov commander of the Revolutionary Army, former Shichibukai Crocodile, and former Shichibukai Jimbei also appeared on the scene, apparently all behind Luffy one hundred percent. This was surprising, especially considering she had watched the boy fight and defeat Crocodile herself.

With the help of Whitebeard (sort of, the boy just kind of demanded that the Yonko stay out of the way), Luffy began his charge. Unfortunately, this was halted when one of Whitebeard's allies stabbed the large man right through the gut, claiming the Yonko sold out his allies for the promise of Ace's life.

Which was absolutely ridiculous.

That was also around the time the video cut out, leaving hundreds of annoyed people yelling at the marines in charge. Law merely stood, bringing Mara up with him, and turned on his heel to go right back to the submarine. "'Whitebeard sold out his allies'?" The captain repeated skeptically. He didn't believe a word of it. "He wouldn't do that. That's why he's a living legend!"

"They played that man like a violin," Mara agreed.

"Let's set sail, Bepo!" Law ordered.

The bear was quick to please. "Aye aye, Captain! Follow me, Jean Bart!"

* * *

**A/N: **_I know I don't usually make comments, but...__  
_

_Finally a kiss and it's not with Law._

_Ha._


	19. Chapter 19: Death At Marineford

**Chapter 19: Death At Marineford**

The submarine was an impressive kind of controlled chaos. The crew was moving around all over the place, but no one was in the way or tripping over other people. They all knew where to go and what to do to make the sub go smoothly in times of crisis.

This was definitely a time of crisis.

Law, Mara, and Bepo were standing in the control room, watching the monitor that showed them what the periscope saw, what was happening in Marineford. So much had transpired between now and the time the screens cut out. Being in the submarine made it feel like a completely different experience, like they could actually do something.

It wasn't all that difficult to catch up on what had happened, however. From what they were seeing, Mara assumed the Government had cut the screens so the people of the world wouldn't see them execute Ace earlier than they promised. Obviously. Pretty much all the Supernovas had assumed that and she was positive they were all on their ships, heading for Marineford as well so they could watch the battle unfold. This was their time. Their era. They would never miss it.

The attempts to execute Portgas D. Ace, however, appeared to have failed. Several times. They could see Ace beside Luffy as the two ran for the bay, alongside all of the Whitebeard pirates and allies. They were making their hasty retreat in order to save their lives now that they got what they wanted.

"They're never going to make it out alive," Mara hissed, unable to take her eyes from the screen. "The admirals are making their move!"

"That's what we're here for," Law informed her tightly, the strain of the situation showing on even his face. Mara decided she didn't like the look of it on him. She wanted him to be back to smiling, and terrifying everyone with his dark smirks.

Akainu lunged, but it wasn't at Ace. It was at the man's little brother. Luffy gasped as he looked up to see the Admiral coming right for him, fist already shifting into burning hot magma. But Luffy was too exhausted and too stunned to move.

A body appeared between the two, and took the magma fist through the torso.

Everyone watched in stunned silent as Ace stood before his brother, using his own body as a shield. Despite the flames from his body, Akainu's fist protruded from his abdomen. When he pulled his fist back, Ace fell to his knees in front of Luffy. Blood poured from the gaping hole in his stomach.

There was a brief moment of silence, before... "HE GOT ACE!"

Mara's throat went dry at the sight and she could feel Law's hand on her back. She shouldn't feel this terrible. She had only met the man once. She had no right. And yet, the struggles and the pain she had witnessed today made her heart ache.

Not just for Ace. For every single one of those pirates up there, fighting to save their shipmate and 'brother'.

"EVERYONE STOP AKAINU!"

"FIRE!" All of the gunners and cannoneers opened fire on Akainu, kicking up a massive amount of dust. But when it finally cleared, Akainu remained standing, if a bit deformed from his body reshaping itself.

"It's no good... there's no stopping this guy!"

Noticing that Ace, in spite of his injuries, was still breathing, Akainu raised his fist again, turning it into magma. "It would appear that you have life in you yet..."

"STOP!" Luffy screamed, earning a glare of hatred from Akainu.

"I will allow no more of this!" Jimbei caught Akainu's fist in his own before it reached Ace, using his ability to manipulate the sea to call it to him to prevent his arm from burning.

"Jimbei!"

Akainu took a few steps back, calmly observing his former ally. "I suggest you put an end to your attempts to buy time, Jimbei," he drawled. "As a former Warlord of the Sea, you should be all too familiar with the power I wield..."

"If by tearing this body apart I can delay you in the slightest, then I am content!" Jimbei replied passionately. He had a great amount of respect for both Luffy and Ace, and this attack made his blood boil with a fury he hadn't known for a long time. "I never intended to place value on my own life from the outset!"

Akainu was flaring his body up again. "It would seem that a little punishment for this traitor is in order!"

Jimbei was prepared to fight, but someone interrupted. "Jimbei, get down!" As Jimbei did, two pirates leapt over him and attacked Akainu. It was Marco the Phoenix and a muscular swordsman with a long, handlebar mustache.

"Commander Vista! Commander Marco!"

The two attacked the Admiral furiously, and their attacks actually landed, doing real damage to him instead of just turning his body to magma. Akainu glared at them. "This is getting irritating! Haki users now? Can you not see that it is too late for Fire Fist?"

"For a moment's neglect, I feel boundless regret!" Vista stated.

Marco added, "How could we let this happen...?!" His anguish was clear.

Ace fell forward. Luffy caught him, wrapping his arms around his body securely. One of Ace's arms went around Luffy's back. "Ace!" the pirates yelled. It looked like the downed man said something, but it couldn't be heard from where they were.

Luffy pulled his hand back, seeing it covered with Ace's blood. "Ace! We've gotta hurry and treat your-" Ace gave a smile, saying something again. "What are you talking about!" Luffy demanded, refusing to believe his brother was dying. "Don't say stupid things like that!"

Pirates were starting to form a protective circle around the brothers as Luffy panicked over the wounds. Growing more desperate, Luffy yelled to the surrounding pirates, "Somebody deal with his wounds! Somebody save Ace!"

"Hurry over here, doctor!" one of them yelled, and a pirate carrying a large medical bag ran over. "He needs emergency treatment!"

"Coming!"

Ace spoke again. "What are you talking about...?" Luffy asked. "Ace... are you going to die? No... you promised...! You told me, didn't you, Ace...?! You said you wouldn't die!" The pirates swarmed around the brothers as Ace clung to Luffy, saying his final words. "No! You're lying!" Luffy said. The older boy shook his head, saying something else.

For once, the Heart Pirates could hear his words. The entirety of Marineford had gone deathly quiet. When Ace spoke his next words, they could hear the tears in his voice. "You guys still loved me... Thank you so much...!"

"Ace...!" his fellow pirates shouted, tears unashamedly pouring down their faces.

Then, Ace's body went limp, and he slid out of Luffy's embrace. His body slumped over to the side and he fell against the pavement. Even so, there was a small smile on his face, and he looked like he'd found the ultimate peace.

Fire Fist Ace, Whitebeard Pirates Second Division Commander, son of Gold Roger, brother of Monkey D. Luffy... was dead.

Tears sprang to Mara's eyes and this time she accepted Law's arms unquestioningly as he pulled her into him. This was the most horrible thing she had ever seen. All she wanted to do was block it out. "Get the package ready," Law ordered Bepo. "We're delivering it while we're here."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" The bear saluted and ran from the room.

"…package?" Mara questioned slowly. "What package?" Law allowed her to pull away from him and eye him suspiciously.

"At the moment, nothing to be concerned with." That statement alone made her more far concerned than anything else could.

"Ace... AAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!" It was such a mournful cry, it would put the banshee's wail to shame.

Law looked to the screen again. Luffy was sitting there, head tilted back to the sky, completely dead to the world. His mind had shut down to save himself from the trauma. He cursed under his breath. "Get us closer!" He ordered the man by the helm. "As fast as you can!"

The submarine, despite being able to see everything, was still way too far away to be helpful. They needed to move fast if they were going to get to the bay when Strawhat arrived and needed a ride out. Law turn and swept from the room, authority in every step. Bepo returned, dragging a large crate behind him, in time to see his captain leaving. "The package is ready."

"Good. Keep an eye on the conflict. I'm going to prepare the operating theatre for surgery." Mara looked between the screen and the captain. Reluctantly, she pulled herself away to follow him down the hall.

Neither of them spoke as they entered the operating theatre. Mara simply leaned against the wall near the door and watched him work. If she tried to help, she would only get in the way and they needed all the efficiency they could get.

Watching him go, setting up all he knew he would need, was mesmerizing. Not a single movement was wasted. He never once hesitated when grabbing a tool and never once hesitated when placing it where it needed to be.

For a while she simply watched his hands, his face, loving the surety she saw there. It made her wonder if he had become a doctor or a pirate first. Surely a doctor. But he had been in Doflamingo's crew before forming his own… Perhaps the two were one and the same?

Her sapphire orbs drifted lower. It seemed she could never watch him for extended periods of time without that defiant part of her reminding her why she was on the ship. The metal box swayed with his movements, occasionally bumping into his thigh.

Then Law spun and headed to the door with sure steps, his eyes lingering on her as he approached. He had seen where her eyes were. "Go and fetch Jean Bart. We're going to need him on deck for this."

Mara nodded, pushing from the wall as he passed and falling in step behind him. She split off when he went for the helm, however, and continued onto one of the other mechanical rooms. "Jean!" She called, attempting to navigate down the narrow halls.

It was a part of the ship she hadn't bothered to figure out in the past. Luckily, it seemed like he was ready to be summoned as he appeared out of a door and headed for her like a homing beacon. "What is it?"

"Captain Trafalgar wants you on deck," she informed, not pausing her stride in the least as she turned back around. This time they ran as fast as they could. The submarine was breaching the water, they could all feel it.

They burst onto the deck right behind Law and Bepo, all of them spreading out across the surface. Bepo was still dragging the mystery crate behind him. "Bring Mister Strawhat over here!" Law shouted up at a dot in the sky.

Upon closer inspection, Mara found it to be… Buggy the Clown carrying Jimbei and Luffy. She nearly deadpanned. What had she missed? "Mi-Mister Strawhat?!" Buggy repeated in confusion. "Huh?! Who the hell are you, kid?!"

Law didn't have a confident smile on his face like the last time he saw Luffy. Instead, his expression was one of serious determination. "Mister Straw Hat may one day become an enemy of mine, but even enemy relationships are still relationships! It'll be too lame if he ends up dying here! I'm going to make sure he escapes!" When he spoke his next lines, he looked directly into Jimbei's eyes. "Entrust him to me for the time being! I'm a doctor!"

Another explosion rocked the submarine and Mara was forced to cling to the rail to remain standing. Law's balance was much better. They did not have time for this pathetic man's complaining. "Hurry your ass up!" Mara shouted. "Get Strawhat on board! We can't save him if he isn't here!"

"Captain Law! A battleship has circled around to approach us from a seaward direction!" Jean informed the man.

"ATTENTION ALL MARINES!" They heard the loudspeaker announce. "DIVIDE YOUR ATTACKS BETWEEN THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES AND THE BLACKBEARD PIRATES!" Alongside that lovely announcement, giant waves started up around the island. Mara looked to see if she could find Whitebeard. This didn't seem like him at all.

It was like time stopped when she saw the standing corpse. Then her attention was ripped away by Law's shout of, "It's Kizaru!" The admiral was gunning for Luffy!

"They're all yours, people I don't know!" In an attempt to get the admiral away from him, Buggy threw the Supernova and former Shichibukai toward the submarine. "And good luck with him, too! Give it your best shot, you hear?!"

"Grab them, Jean Bart!" Law ordered. With the matter settled, he was already running back to the doorway. "Bepo, deliver the package!" There wasn't going to be much time for it soon.

Jimbei fell into the large man's arms easily. "All right! Good job!" Bepo complimented, giving the man two thumbs up as he shoved the crate over the side of the deck and out of sight.

"Get ready to dive!" Law shouted down into the door.

Mara hopped up onto Jean's shoulder and carefully pried Monkey D. Luffy from the fishman's tight grasp. No need to do extra damage to the kid. "I got this one," she said to Jean, hopping back to land on the deck.

"Whoa! His wounds are terrible!" Bepo observed in fright. "Is he even alive?! We've gotta hurry!"

"I know!" Mara called back, holding the boy as carefully yet securely as she could. They really needed to start operating. Like now.

"Strawhat Luffy! 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law!" Kizaru called.

Mara looked back to see the admiral's hand glowing with his power. She gasped, eyes widening. There was no way they would dodge that. Law's teeth clenched and his face screamed of his inability to stop the attack. "Dammit..!"

"ENOUGH ALREADY!"

Kizaru halted his attack in question, looking to the plaza in question.

Mara stumbled forward, clutching Luffy to make sure he didn't fall from her arms. The tension of the moment had stopped her from thinking about her feet; she had been sure she was about to die. The tension dropped from Law's face and he looked to the plaza in disbelief.

It was impressive how, no matter what the expression on Law's face, the shape of his eyes never changed. He let out the breath he had sucked in and reached out to put a hand on Mara's shoulder to help steady her. "A marine?" she questioned.

"CAN'T WE ALL JUST STOP?! ALL THIS FIGHTING! DOES IT HAVE TO GO ON?!" A marine boy yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mara could just the see the kid, arms outstretched, standing in the way of the lava man. He had balls to get in an admiral's way, especially that one.

"TOO MANY LIVES ARE GOING TO WASTE! WE'VE ALREADY DONE WHAT WE CAME HERE TO DO..! YET NOW WE'RE CHASING PIRATES WHO DON'T EVEN WANT TO FIGHT..! PROLONGING A BATTLE THAT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO GO ON..! ABANDONING SOLDIERS WHO COULD BE SAVED IF WE TOOK THE TIME TO TREAT THEIR WOUNDS..! AND SACRIFICING STILL MORE SOLDIERS WITH EVERY PASSING MOMENT! DON'T YOU THINK THIS MEANINGLESS BATTLE… MAKES ALL THOSE SOLDIERS LOSING THEIR LIVES… LOOK LIKE COMPLETE IDIOTS?!"

The strength and conviction of his words had the entire battlefield stopping to listen. Maybe there was a tad bit of Haki in there as well.

Akainu didn't look impressed. "What?! Who the hell are you?!" And why the hell was the kid in his way? "…You have wasted precious seconds of our time. The marines have no need for a soldier who knows not justice."

In a flash, Akainu attacked... and was blocked. The Marines watched in shock as this new interloper shoved Akainu's attack aside with a simple sword. Even Akainu himself lost his scowling expression to show his surprise. The poor marine boy passed out, but at least he was safe.

"Well done, young Marine," the new man spoke, even though boy couldn't hear him. All could be seen of him from their spot was a long black cape and brilliant red hair. "The seconds of courage you bet your life on creating, for good or bad, have just now greatly changed the fate of the world!"

With everyone watching the main battlefield, the Heart Pirates took the chance to prepare to leave. "Hurry! Hurry, inside!" Bepo called, trying to herd Jean, Mara, and Law inside.

Movement out of the corner of Mara's eyes made her look up. A man with wavy, graying hair smoking a cigarette pointed a pistol at Kizaru from the mast. "Don't move a muscle, Kizaru!"

Surprisingly, Kizaru complied, simply holding his hands up in surrender. "Oh my! Ben Beckman!"

"Eh?! That... that ship!" Just outside the ring of battleships was a new pirate ship. Mara would know that ship anywhere. It belonged to none other than the Red Haired Pirates, under the Yonko Shanks. What the hell was he doing there?!

Shanks reached down to pick something up off the battlefield. "I've come to end this war!" he announced boldly.

"It's the Red-Hair Pirates!"

Mara tore her gaze away to look down at Luffy. Without waiting another moment she dashed below deck and ran for the operating theatre. She hoped Law was behind her, because this boy wasn't going to last long without treatment.

Jimbei was already on one of the beds when she entered the room, and Jean Bart and Bepo were nowhere to be seen. Likely trying to get the submarine moving. Mara gently set Luffy down on another bed and relieved him of what was left of his vest.

He wouldn't need it for this. Law came in moments after she had and handed her a straw hat. "Hold onto this. I have work to do."

"Understood." She left, heading back to find Jean or perhaps Bepo.


	20. Chapter 20: Shichibukai, Boa Hancock

**A/N: **_Thanks to _Terikel_ for reminding me that the previous chapter was really just a filler to keep us on track. I have decided to post a second chapter today because of that and because I'm pleased that my finals are over. Passing the good feels on and all that. __  
_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Shichibukai, Boa Hancock**

Hours went by. For the first few, there had been nothing but Heart Pirates calling instruction back and forth through the halls as the Marines attempted to chase them. After a while, all sounds of it had died down and the furious feel to their movement calmed.

Mara had found both Bepo and Jean when she left the operating theatre. They had been rather busy attempting to keep from getting sunk, so she had simply adjourned to Law's room again. It had a different feel to it this time.

She had no idea why. It wasn't as if anything had changed.

With a sigh, she placed Luffy's vest and hat on her bed and made for the deck. From the sounds of things, the sub was surfacing for a while. They were far enough away that marines likely wouldn't be able to find them anymore.

"Snake?!" Bepo's shouted in surprise.

Mara's lazy walking pace sped up and she practically burst out onto the deck. "What happened?" But she didn't need to ask. It was quite clear what was wrong. A large white snake with pink markings was sitting in front of Bepo. The thing was actually bigger than the bear, more than twice his size.

Penguin and Shachi weren't far behind her. "What the hell?!" The former asked.

"How did a snake get here?!"

"Isn't that… Boa Hancock's snake?" Mara wondered, cocking her head to the side. She was sure she saw the thing with the Shichibukai in the past. The fog to the right of the deck dispersed, revealing the familiar shape of a marine ship.

The three Heart Pirates looked horrified at this new revelation. "Oh, no!" Bepo said.

"Oh no, a marine ship!"

"Tell Captain!" Penguin ordered, voice rising to an almost unmanly pitch.

Mara looked up to the rail of the much taller vessel. Looked like her suspicions were correct. "Shichibukai, Boa Hancock!" She called, catching the ebony haired woman's attention. This was the last thing they needed right now. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Luffy," the Empress admitted. She jumped down from the bigger ship to land next to her snake, her posture nonthreatening. "Don't worry. I turned all the marine soldiers to stone. So how's Luffy doing? Is it bad? He'll recover, won't he?"

"I don't know," Mara responded slowly. How on earth did Luffy become friends with this woman? Because from her stance and tone, that was clearly what she was. "Captain Trafalgar is still working on him, last I checked."

Bepo just looked at the Shichibukai blankly. "How did you know that we were gonna surface here?" It shouldn't have been possible. "I was scared, thinking that the marines were still chasing us."

Hancock motioned to the snake at her side. "I had Salome trace you on the ocean floor. "

Bepo hit his hand in realization. "I see!"

"Don't interrupt like that, you fuzzy beast!" Hancock snapped.

"Sorry..." Bepo immediately apologized, bowing his head.

"So weak!" his crewmates gasped.

The Empress turned back to Mara. "And how was Luffy, the last time you saw him?"

Suddenly the door opened, startling everyone. Law's expression was dark as he finished wiping blood off his hands with a towel. "Oh, Captain!" Bepo greeted.

Answering the question before it was even asked, Law explained, "I did all that I could."

"You mean, he's okay?" Hancock tried to clarify.

"We were able to stabilize him," Law corrected. The declaration didn't tell them much. "However... he's accumulated an unbelievable amount of damage. There's no guarantee that he will survive yet."

"Vell, that is only natural!" Mara spun back around at the shout that came from the marine ship to see… was that Emporio Ivankov and his okamas? On the Marine ship?

"What is god's name is that?!" the Heart Pirates exclaimed.

The okamas cheered for Luffy. "That's right, Straw Hat gave it his best!"

"Thanks to him we managed to escape!"

"Now we can finally journey to the Kamabakka Kingdom we've been dreaming of for years! From Newkama Land to the headquarters of newkamas!"

"What are they?" Shachi asked, watching the rowdy group flail around aboard the deck of the other ship.

"The prisoners from Impel Down..." Hancock told him. "It seems that they're Luffy's friends. They snuck onto the Marine ship!" She hadn't even realized they'd snuck aboard when she forced the ship to chase after Luffy under the guise of handing him over to the Marines.

Ivankov leapt down onto the submarine's deck. "Straw Boy's body was already withered to the point where he could no longer even stand in Impel Down! Still gotta hand it to the little bugger for going that wild though!"

"Yeah!"

"He really outdid himself!"

"Trust us!"

Ivankov shook his head. "All for the sake of rescuing his elder brother Ace! And to think that that same elder brother died in front of his very eyes, so that he would be saved... Vhat god or buddha would permit that? That's something that vould easily crumble one, nay, two minds!"

"Aww, come on, you can do it Straw Hat!"

"Hang in there!"

Hancock turned away sharply, covering her face with her hands. "What a tragedy... I wish I could have gone in his place. Poor Luffy!"

"By the vay," Ivankov drawled, turning to Law. "Are you a friend of Straw Boy's or something, sweetie?"

Law crossed his arms. "No," he replied at length. "I have no obligation to save him, either. But if kindness makes you uncomfortable, shall I make up some reason?"

"No thank you!" Ivankov replied. "There are times when instinct moves our bodies, after all."

"Hey, wait!"

"The wound could open up!"

"Where are you going?"

Mara turned to the new voices at the door, only to find Jimbei joining them on the deck. His entire torso was covered in bandages and he was panting as he walked toward them. The fishman looked directly at Law. "You're Trafalgar Law of the North Blue, aren't you?" The tattooed man nodded once, expression unreadable. "Thank you! You saved my life!"

Instead of responding to the thanks as normal people would, Law simply stated, "Sleep, you're gonna die."

Jimbei shook his head. "My heart will not settle down. It's impossible... for what I've lost this time around is far too great for me to bear!" Jimbei gazed sadly back at the ship, and it was clear he was thinking of Luffy. "Therefore, I cannot even begin to fathom the condition of Luffy's heart at this moment. His fainting back there must have been, at least, some sort of defense instinct. Even if his life is saved, what I fear most is the moment when he wakes up..." If the last thing Luffy thought of before he passed out was Ace, it would likely be the first when he awoke.

"Doesn't mean you shouldn't sleep," Mara said gently. "If the doctor says you need to rest, you probably need to rest." The fishman shook his head and Law sent her an unreadable look.

"Beast!" Hancock said to Bepo, spinning on her heel. "Do you have a Den Den Mushi?"

"Yeah," Bepo replied, before quickly correcting, "Ah! Yes, we do, ma'am! Sorry!"

"Aw, that's not fair..." two of his crewmates whined. "You're like the Empress' slave or something!" Little did they know that most men were her slaves.

Explaining her thoughts, Hancock said, "If we call the Kuja fleet, this submarine will be able to cross the Calm Belt! If Luffy's survival is made known to the government, they will surely send pursuers. We must hide at Amazon Lily. As long as I am still a Shichibukai, we will be able to treat him in safety."

Seeing that they had a destination, Ivankov announced loudly, "Vell then, my mission to protect Straw Boy ends here! I'm going to leave everything to y'all here, is that alright, Jimbei?!"

Jimbei nodded. "Yes. I still can't swim freely either. I will ascertain Luffy's recovery with my own eyes. I don't know what I'll be able to do, though..."

Ivankov boarded the stolen Marine ship and shoved off, all the while the okamas shouted words of encouragement to Luffy. "If fate may have it, then let us meet again!"

Mara continued to watch the sea until the ship disappeared. Only then did she shake her head and turn to Jimbei. "Alright, Mister former-Shichibukai." Everyone's eyebrows rose. "I don't care your status. Get back to bed."

The smirk returned to Law's lips and he crossed his arms as he watched the display. Jimbei almost looked startled at the tiny woman's declaration. It wasn't often that people spoke to him in such a manner. "I cannot-"

Mara shook her head and took hold of his large arm. "No, no, no. You heard the man. You're going to die if you don't go lay back down. Luffy shouldn't have to lose two people he cares about in one day, should he?"

It was just a guess on her part, but it seemed to be pretty spot-on. Jimbei's reluctance wavered and he allowed her to bring him back below deck. Once there, she took her time getting supplies to set up a cot for him in the room.

He wasn't going to want to leave Luffy and he needed to sleep, so she'd just have to make him a bed there. She didn't react to his curious stare at all. "Why do I recognize you..?" Jimbei asked a she had gotten in mostly set up. "I don't recall ever having met you, but still you look familiar."

Mara glanced up at him and spread a blanket out on the cot. It occurred to her that she may have slipped up when she snuck in to watch that Shichibukai meeting a few years ago. What could she say? She was a curious kind of person. Oh well, it was in the past. "No, we haven't met. Not directly. I work for Cipher Pol."

Realization took over his eyes. "Ah, yes, that was it. You're one of the ones they send out to watch pirates who get too strong too fast." At one point, he had been followed, too. More realization hit him. "Since you give this information so freely, I can only assume Trafalgar Law knows."

Mara smiled wryly and dropped two fluffy pillows on the cot. "Oh yes, Captain Trafalgar is well aware." Jimbei sat there, continuing to watch her movements. They never faltered, as if the issue didn't bother her at all. When she looked back at him, her eyes told a different story.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I am hardly surprised," she commented easily. A heavy sigh escaped her. "I was bad at my job. End of story." Not everyone needed to know her pitiful story. She just wanted to keep it to herself. "I would just focus on yourself and Strawhat, if I were you." With that, she turned on her heel and left him to his thoughts.

The Kuja ship was there when she returned topside maybe a dozen minutes later, and what an… interesting ship it was. Large and black with red trim and what looked like an actual building on top, the ship had not one but two figureheads. A large green snake figure with black marking and… hair… was at both front corners, the ship being more squared off at the bow. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that they were alive.

The submarine was following in the much larger vessel's wake as they headed for Amazon Lily. "The Isle of Women," Mara mused, moving to stand by Law, who had made himself comfortable leaning against the wall. She honestly couldn't say she ever expected to go to a place like that. Especially in the company of an all male pirate crew. Wasn't that against the laws?

Perhaps that was the point, though. Yes, Boa's status as Shichibukai would protect them pretty well as they hid there. The fact that they were ninety nine percent male, however, hid them five times as well as anybody's status ever could. The island was known for not letting men even go near it. The marines had to wait in the Calm Belt quite a distance away to wait for Boa to go speak with them.

"Have you ever been there?" Law wondered, eyeing her thoughtful expression.

Mara glanced at him. She didn't particularly want to talk to him since she still wanted him dead in the end, but at the moment ignoring him probably wouldn't be the wisest thing. "No. Most of the marines who deal with the Kuja are men." Which made absolutely no sense, but she just rolled with it.

Law appeared to be thinking along the same lines. "With all the rumors circulating about her, I'm surprised the marines would put themselves at such an obvious disadvantage."

All he got was a shrug. "I don't recall them ever claiming to be good tacticians. Maybe that's why they're wary of you." The latter part was quieter, as if she were speaking to herself and not him. He was considered a good tactician and the mastermind behind several large events in his past. "It's probably because there's a severe lack of women in the marines."

Several more Heart Pirates filtered out onto the deck as word of where they were headed spread like wildfire below deck. It was amusing and disturbing all at once to see how excited the men were getting. Amusing because they were tripping over themselves like idiots. Disturbing because she was getting a first-class look into how the male brain operated.

Mara decided she didn't like the insight.

"The idea of going there doesn't sit well with you?" Law questioned, studying the steadily growing scowl pulling her lips down.

Blinking several times, she turned to look at the man casually leaning there. "I don't really care. To me it's just an island." Gender ratios never bothered her in the past and it sure as hell wasn't going to start bothering her now.

That's about the time it occurred to her. She had never really seen Law in an environment that forced him to interact with numerous women. In fact, the only woman she had really seen him spend any length of time talking to was herself. Her scowl deepened for a completely different reason, her eyes locking onto the back of the Kuja ship.

Hadn't she just decided she wasn't going to let gender ratios start bothering her?


	21. Chapter 21: Women, Women, Everywhere

**Chapter 21: Women, Women, Everywhere**

They remained on deck for the duration of the trip. Despite the excited conversations peppering the deck, neither Law nor Mara spoke. The situation back on Sabaody hadn't left her and with all this time she suddenly had to think, it was souring her mood more and more.

Every once in a while she would turn to look back at Law, leaning against the wall not even three feet behind her, and find him looking at the floor in thought. Or, as it happened this time and once before, she found him looking directly at her. Neither one showed any particular emotion, both clearly lost in their own thoughts.

They held each other's gaze for a long while. Law appeared to be looking for something in the deep blue depths of her eyes, and Mara did her best to read what it was he was feeling. How was it that such a man could gain her attention in the way that he did? No one had ever interested her as much as Trafalgar Law did.

With a frown, she tore her eyes away from his and looked back to the front. What the hell was he looking for, anyway? The intensity of his eyes made her think he was trying to look straight into her soul, trying to find an answer to some unknown question. Determined not to know what it was he was after, Mara promptly ignored him.

This was made easier by the island looming ever closer, now just ahead of the Kuja ship. Mara heard a lot of things about Amazon Lily. In all honesty, she wasn't comfortable accompanying an all male pirate crew right into its heart. Especially when the Jolly Roger marked gates opened to thousands of cheers from women lining the canal they floated on.

Having their Empress guiding them did absolutely nothing to comfort her. Presumably, none of these women knew the situation. How long until one (or four dozen) decided to attack the awed men on the deck of the submarine? She was giving it two minutes.

"Smells nice!" One of the Heart Pirates commented, completely enthralled by their new location.

"I feel lightheaded!" Another agreed.

"This must be heaven!"

"Hey, you guys," Law called in a tone that clearly said they needed to remember a little more about the island. The three turned to their captain in question. "You gotta go back in, otherwise you'll die." Blunt and to the point. Mara liked it. Even as the words left his mouth, an arrow lodged itself into the wall right where his face had been not seconds before. The man hadn't even opened his eyes to see the attack, simply tilting his head to the side.

Body acting on its own, Mara shifted so that she was blocking Law from such easy shots. The woman didn't even notice she did it. Law did, cracking one eye open to watch her. "The women here aren't pushovers," she reminded the men. "We're in the middle of dozens of highly trained warriors."

His crew looked absolutely horrified. They turned to see where the arrow came from… only to find a barrage of about fifty more heading right for them. The Hearts on the deck (understandably) began to panic. Not that it was necessary, as arrows coming from the large ship in front of them destroyed the attack easily.

"People, stop! They're not our enemy!" Hancock called. "Luffy is in that ship! He suffered greatly, mentally and physically, during the battle at Marineford, and he is hanging between life and death now." Finally, the Empress came into view to stand on the back of her ship facing the submarine. "Ladies, carry Luffy to the Kuja Castle as soon as possible!" Her tone took a one-eighty. "I'm going to look after Luffy…"

"Wait a minute, Snake Princess!"

Hancock looked to the shore in confusion. Who would tell her no? "Granny Nyon!"

Mara could just make out the shape on a short old woman standing on the rocks. "It's fine if it's just Luffy. But we can't allow those men on that strange ship to set foot on Amazon Lily. It's against our country's policy!" The old woman reminded Hancock.

The Empress didn't stop to think. Nyon spoke the truth, after all. "Then, let's just allow the doctor and the woman to come with him, so…"

"No!" Hancock flinched as she was interrupted sharply. "We can't allow any man to come onto the island, even if he is a doctor! We have so many good doctors on this island!" She reasoned.

Mara gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah. Because your doctors would be able to treat Strawhat in his current condition."

A small smirk graced Law's lips at her words. "Well, I don't care either way, but… do you have the same medical equipment and technology as my ship?" Finally, he looked up at the Kuja women, the smirk already gone. Neither responded. "If his wounds open up, he's going to die." He looked away again, the smirk already firmly back in place. "Take Mister Strawhat if you don't care about it."

The Snake Princess was horrified at the prospect. "Luffy's going to die?!" Her hands flew to the sides of her head, unable to take the news. "If that happens by any chance… Oh, I'm going to… I'm going to…" She panicked.

"Calm down," Mara scolded lightly. Instantly, that was chalked up on her board of 'don't try this again'. "He said _if_ you take him away from us." She locked eyes with Hancock. "I trust Captain Trafalgar's ability to save Luffy, and no one else's. So if we can't set foot on your island, we'll just have to go somewhere else to do it." She studiously ignored the hole being burning into the back of her head in favor of staring the Shichibukai down.

"Impossible!" Hancock protested. "We'd be attacked by the Sea Kings! Even if we get away from them, the marines could find us at any time!" Frustrated and becoming disheartened, she placed a hand to her head. "What should we do?"

"Oh, well… We only do it as an exception, but…" Nyon said slowly. Law and Mara looked over at the older woman. "You can stay in the area of the bay. The Sea Kings won't attack you there."

Completely pleased to an almost euphoric state, Hancock exclaimed, "Then, I'll stay with them to look after Luffy…"

"No!" Nyon shouted.

Euphoria turned to anger. "Damn Granny Nyon! You just keep saying 'no' to me!"

Satisfied with this answer, Mara nodded. "Thank you." Luffy's condition wouldn't do well if they had to take the time to go somewhere else. At least here, they could get medical supplies as the need arose. Hancock was still glaring at the older woman. "You gonna take us there or what?" The agent snapped at her.

The Shichibukai didn't appear to notice the tone used. Luffy's safely was all that was on her mind. Silently, Mara was thankful for that. She didn't really want to deal with the repercussions for being rude to an Ruler/Shichibukai. Twice. In the same conversation."Ah… Yes, of course!"

As the ships made their way in the new direction, Mara couldn't help smirking at the Hearts on deck. "Better get a good look, boys. I doubt you'll ever see this again."

With the reminder and the loss of the imminent death threat, the men went back to openly gawking at the women lining the canal. She was right, after all. They would never set foot in here again. "So beautiful..!"

"I've gone to heaven!"

"I wonder how many women there are here?"

"Well, well, Miss Mara." The stark contrast between Law's voice and that of the crew nearly startled her. It was lower in tone and completely calm.

She glanced at him over her shoulder at him. He was watching her with interest so blatant she was wondering if he was sick. Carefully watching him, she turned to face him and plopped her backside onto the deck. "You got something to say?" Mara asked defensively, pridefully ignoring the obvious direction this was headed.

Despite what she had originally anticipated, Law's face wasn't coated with taunting amusement. He was impossible to read. Mara made a mental note to never play poker with him. Vaguely, she wondered if that note was already there. "I didn't realize you thought so highly of my abilities."

A sigh escaped her lips. Yep, she knew it was headed straight here. "I can't believe you're making me say this," she muttered under her breath.

There was a pause; they could hear his crew gushing on the other side of the deck. Law hadn't intended to really _make_ her say anything. He had expected her pride to explode again, her to snap some annoyed and possibly insulting words, then probably storm off below deck to seethe for a few hours. Or days. That was clearly not what he was about to get.

Mara heaved another sigh, pressing a palm to her face. "I guarantee you, I'm not repeating this. So you better listen." Oh, there was no way he was going to miss this. "I'd have to be blind to not recognize your talent. You're probably the most talented medical man I've come in contact with." Surely no one else she knew would be capable of doing any good to Strawhat. And she wasn't even going to get started on his fighting. Luckily that wasn't on the table.

The captain just stared at her.

Embarrassed. That was what she was feeling. Heat instantly flooded her cheeks and she was on her feet, turning her face away and to the floor, all the while gunning for the door below deck. "I'm gonna go check on Jimbei…" She muttered.

A hand shot out and placed itself firmly on the opposite side of the doorframe, a tanned arm blocking her path. Mara was forced to pull up short lest she be clothes-lined, and her gaze slid warily up the appendage to look at its owner.

Law, for his part, didn't use this opportunity to taunt her either. He was sure that over the past few weeks he had seen her react to things unconsciously, and he was willing to bet a whole lot on the fact that she herself didn't actually notice them. They couldn't have that, could they? No, that made the situation he was struggling with not nearly as fun.

Time to press his luck.

With her wary eyes on his face, she didn't notice his hand moving until brushed her jaw and kept her face turned toward him. The touch wasn't necessary. He had her full attention. "Are you beginning to actually like me, Miss Mara?" He wondered quietly, not that he thought anyone else would hear. It was a legitimate question. A few days previous, she would have point-blank told him to go to hell.

Her navy orbs never wavered from his steely gray ones. The internal war fighting right beneath the surface was visible through the connection. "I would never do something so disadvantageous." Just to keep the focus off her, she shot back, "You better watch out, Captain Trafalgar, or I might start to think _you _are beginning to like _me_."

An unidentifiable emotion flitted across his eyes and smirk came to his lips. "If there wasn't something I liked about you, I wouldn't keep you around."

The fact that his hand was still on her jaw was not lost on her. "I've got a few theories about that, I assure you." None of them explained his occasionally odd behavior around her. Like at the auction house all that time ago, or when he punched Eustass Kid in the face, or when Ace died. Or right now.

The sounds of the city were fading into the distance as they left the canal and headed around the coast of the island. Law retracted his hand, certain she wasn't going anywhere, and motioned for her to make herself comfortable again. The scowl and muttered words that escaped her as she did so were rude at best and, admittedly, fairly creative.

"I don't want to know," Mara told him. "Seriously."

Fair enough. Law wouldn't tell her. Wasn't going to stop his plans, but he wasn't going to voice any of it. "Alright."

Mara eyed him, clearly not trusting the answer. "Good."


	22. Chapter 22: Invitation

**Chapter 22: Invitation**

Four days had passed since the Battle on the Summit, as the newspapers were calling it, and the Heart Pirates were resting on Amazon Lily along with Jimbei and a still unconscious Luffy. The women from the island brought them food on a regular basis and in that note it was kind of comfortable.

Once you got past the curtain wall marked with the Kuja symbol, the barrier none of them were supposed to pass on pain of… death, probably. They hadn't really been given an ultimatum, so Mara was just speculating out her ass. It seemed a fair assumption, though.

It was painfully obvious that somehow Boa Hancock had fallen in love with Luffy, when every time the (usually different) group of women delivering their food took the time to approach Law (and only Law). Their inquiries always regarded Luffy and his condition, and not once in the four days did he give them a satisfying answer.

Speaking of Law, when they weren't arguing Mara didn't go near him. In return, he kept his distance from her. They didn't need to get chummy, something Law reluctantly picked up on after several attempts at interaction that turned volatile.

Jimbei had recovered fairly well, most of his wounds having healed to a superficial level. True to his word he kept a close eye on Luffy, who was slowly recovering as well. He still had a long way to go but at least he wasn't getting any worse. Mara went to check on him every day, back in the operating theatre. He never changed from what she could see.

To keep from going out of her mind with boredom, Mara kept busy reading the newspapers the women supplied her with. No matter what Mara's situation, information was still her forte and she didn't want to be in the dark. They were also good distractions from the doctor sitting not far away.

According to the papers, Red-Haired Shanks had ended the war shortly after they left. Blackbeard had fled the field with his crew, apparently since his goals had been accomplished. His actions had been explained to her by Jimbei in one of the fishman's attempts at conversation. She found it unnerving that he had been able to not only kill Whitebeard, but stole his devil fruit power. She didn't even know that was possible.

The Whitebeard Pirates had left to an unknown destination with Whitebeard and Ace's bodies, thanks to Shanks demanding they be allowed to be retrieved. Supposedly, Blackbeard had disappeared into the New World and was unable to be found by the marines. Mara suspected they weren't really trying to find him, given his monstrous powers. They'd need another war to take him down, probably.

The search for Luffy had been called off shortly after it began, with most people assuming Luffy had died from his injuries. A reasonable assumption, given all he'd been through coupled with how long it'd been since he made an appearance in a place that wasn't smack dab in the middle of the Calm Belt.

The balance of power had been severely disrupted in all three main powers: marines, Yonko, and Shichibukai. The numbers were messed up in all three categories, leaving Mara to believe the world would be a very turbulent place in the near future. Hell, it probably already was. The thought made Mara kind of glad she wasn't in the office or in the field (legitimately). The chaos would be a bitch to contend with, and the strain of the extra work would not have been pleasant.

When she wasn't reading the paper, Mara either sat herself on the cliff facing the sea simply to watch, or she would return into the submarine to check on how Luffy was doing. These were pleasant distractions, except when she would magically find Law in the operating theatre (despite having checked thoroughly beforehand that he was indeed on the island).

Mara didn't look away from the sea when the women appeared that day. Thankfully, she was by herself this time. She didn't much like getting interrupted during this particular activity. She could hear them setting up the food as per usual, and then she waited for them to start badgering Law. It was the same routine, different actresses.

The anticipated questions didn't come. A breath she didn't know she had been holding left her and she could feel her shoulders slump back down to relaxed. Good. Now she could get back to her activity without the commotion the women always brought.

"Um… Excuse me."

Mara turned her head to see a tall and curvy women, with cropped purple hair. Like most of the women on the island, she was wearing clothes that didn't leave much to the imagination. Snakes decorated the attire, as well a live green one wrapped snuggly around her shoulders. "Hello," Mara greeted, unsure why the woman was talking to her.

"The Snake Princess has requested that you come to the palace," the woman said.

Taking a quick survey of what she knew, Mara made a guess. "She wants to probe me for information regarding Luffy, doesn't she?" she asked dully, turning her eyes back to the water. Being the only one 'in the crew' who could actually walk on the island, it wasn't that surprising it came to this. Though it was funny how long it took the Shichibukai to think of it.

Still, no thanks. That wasn't her idea of fun.

The woman laughed. "Yes, I'm sure that's what she's after. The Princess can't keep her mind off him, it seems."

Mara looked back at the woman, fully intending her 'no', but stopped. Just behind the woman, she could see the other warriors that had come standing, looking between their conversation and Law. The looks on their faces said without a doubt 'is it working? Should we try to talk to the doctor instead?'.

If Mara said no, those women would question him for more satisfying answers until Mara wanted to jump off the cliff in annoyance. Yesterday, the warriors stayed for a good half hour. It was the most irritating thing she had experienced in a long while.

Going to the palace would probably render their need to talk to Law useless. It was with that in mind that Mara stood and ground her teeth, saying, "I'll have to ask Captain Trafalgar." Asking permission from a pirate. Ugh. Awful.

The woman nodded, delighted to have gotten that much. "Okay! I'll wait over there." She pointed to where the other three were standing.

Not bothering to respond, Mara made her way over to Law. It was the first time she willingly approached him since they arrived, so he looked up at her curiously. "The warriors were wondering-"

"No."

The immediate, unhesitating one-word interruption floored her. She hadn't even asked a question! They stared at each other for a minute as the stunned silence took over. "You didn't let me finish," Mara ground out as calm as she could.

"I didn't have to. You're not going to the palace," he informed her lightly.

If he was so damn smart, why did he look confused when she approached him? That part of her brain was stamped down by the other part, that demanded, "And why the hell not?"

"I believe I told you that you weren't leaving my sight while we are off the ship, Miss Mara," Law recalled, fixing her with an even stare. "Just because we're not in Sabaody Archipelago doesn't mean that's null."

Mara glared at him. There was always that not-so-tiny part of her that _had _to oppose him at every turn, even if this was a stupid reason to argue. "It's not like there are agents here to bring me back to work or Supernovas to molest me. I think all of our enemies are in other places, don't you?"

"I'm not taking that chance."

She tossed her hands up in exasperation. "Oh come on! I would just be going to talk to Boa Hancock, it's not like I'm going to their fight pit."

"You really want to go." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Why?" Having never seen her have a desire to interact with anyone, the request came off as odd. People didn't change that quick.

Saying 'they won't talk to you anymore' sounded awful in her head. So that was out. "I want to spend some time talking to people who aren't from your crew and aren't trying to kidnap me." There, that sounded pretty believable.

"You once told me that you didn't spend time to talk to people," Law reminded her without missing a beat.

Damn. Had she really?

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Somehow she felt like that wasn't going to count.

That damn smirk was back. "Yes."

"You're still not buying it, are you?"

"No."

Alright, new approach. "Fine, you don't want excuses. What is it you _do_ want?" He regarded her thoughtfully, brow raised. "I'm in the mood for a trade," she defended, frowning. The last thing she needed was him looking too far into this.

Law shifted to get more comfortable against his tree, one of the three that were inside their curtain barrier. An aura of smugness radiated off him. "Are you sure you want to barter? The price won't be cheap, I promise you."

Mara scowled at him. How badly did she want those women to go away? A quick glance at them answered everything. Their very presence in the camp made her antsy. "I offered, didn't I? Name it."

"The truth and something to be named later."

What the hell did that mean? She really didn't like the sound of 'something to be named later', it had a very ominous feel to it. Almost anything could be put into that category. And all of Mara's instincts said that something that open-ended was bad news. Her scowl deepened. Then there was his request for the truth. Five seconds ago she was purposefully avoiding that very thing.

He was right. The price was steep. Did it really mean that much to her? When the answer came back as 'yes', all she could do was ask 'why'. Why was it so important to keep the women from Law? They were just women. He was just Trafalgar Law.

Who was she kidding? _Just_ Trafalgar Law? That sentence was so wrong she didn't even know where to begin fixing it.

Her lips pulled into a tight line. Now, how was she going to phrase the truth? Because she sure as hell wasn't going to say it the way she was thinking it. It would sound pathetic and weak. "I'm tired of listening to them trying to pry information from you. It's beyond irritating."

Law's probing stare didn't let her go for a long while. She didn't even know how long. Finally, he stood to face her. "Do you know how to use a sword?"

Well that came out of nowhere. "Um… Yes?"

"Good." His eyes flickered to look past her. "Bepo." He motioned to something and waved the bear over. Mara didn't take her eyes off the man in front of her as the bear joined them.

"Here you go, Captain," Bepo said cheerfully, handing the man his nodachi.

"Thank you, Bepo." Law took the sword and handed it out to Mara, who looked at him quizzically. "This will be a better defense against the things on this island. Creatures or women. Cut whatever raises its hand against you."

Desperately, Mara tried to fight down the heat rising to her cheeks. From the amused twitch to Law's smirk, she figured she wasn't very successful. "Thanks. I think." Unsure, she took half a step towards the women. So… was it okay to go now?

The answer came in the form of a hand under her chin. Law was close, far closer than he had been seconds ago. Mara could feel his warm breath ghosting across her lips, and see the individual flecks of color in his irises. "Last time I said be careful, I don't think you heard it because you got yourself into trouble almost instantly." This time he was making sure she paid attention to him.

Mara didn't know what to make of this. "…Captain Trafalgar..?"

"Be careful."

There was a moment where she was positive he planned to be even closer to her, and the only way that was possible… But then the moment was gone and he was back under his tree, watching her like he always did.

The agent just shook her head, propped the nodachi up on her shoulder, and ran to join the women waiting for her. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: **_I may be unable to update tomorrow, as I'm going to be meeting with some people about a One Piece D&D adventure I plan to run. _

_I suppose it wouldn't hurt to add: if anyone has an idea about an adventure on a 'non-existent in the show' island and would be wiling to share it, I would love to hear it. Planning a whole Blue Sea to end of the Grand Line adventure is proving more difficult than I anticipated._

_Thanks. I hope to post tomorrow._


	23. Chapter 23: Getting Somewhere

**Chapter 23: Getting Somewhere**

The walk to the palace was peaceful. The four women who carried the food chatted jovially as they moved, not seeming the least bit concerned about the untamed forest around them. Based on the incredibly accurate shots that tried to mutilate the Heart pirates when they first arrived, she supposed they didn't have a reason to be worried.

The one woman who approached her at camp, who she learned was named Elise, glanced over at Mara every once in a while, eyeing the weapon perched lazily on her shoulder. Mara couldn't sense any hostility in the gesture, so she never commented on it.

It wasn't like she could answer the silent question. Mara had no clue why Law had given the blade to her, because she was positive it wasn't for the reason he said it was. While she was good with a sword, this particular one was longer than average and she wasn't used to its weight.

Mara didn't complain. The weight of the nodachi on her shoulder made her feel like she was being watched by Law, and that made her trepidation from getting farther from the camp lessen. It wasn't that she was nervous something would happen, it was just that the track record wasn't really saying good things to her.

Conversation didn't spread to Mara, not that she tried to interact. She was just here to get something done with and then hopefully get some time to spend roaming the city. That would be a nice treat, after being cooped up on that submarine for so long.

People looked over at the group as they entered the city, either not recognizing Mara or remembering her from the little pass through they did on the canal. The three women Mara didn't catch the name of departed at various points as they walked, until it was just Elise and Mara, and the gates to the palace.

That first day she went to the palace was enlightening. Hancock wasted no time probing her for every last detail about Luffy's condition she could. If the boy twitched, she wanted to know about it. Once all the information ran dry, they spent the several hours reconfirming what they knew. Mara humored her because her antics were rather entertaining.

It also didn't hurt that she invited Mara to come back every day after that. The routine was simple and easy to fall into. She had the first half of the day to herself on the beach, reading a book she picked up in the market, reading the newspaper, or watching the sea. The afternoon was spent entertaining the Snake Princess. The evenings she spent wandering the city, sightseeing or shopping with money (provided by Hancock) for nothing in particular. Usually, it ended with her getting a book.

At night, she would meander her way back to the camp by the shore accompanied by some warrior she didn't bother remembering the name of. It may have been rude, but she honestly didn't care. When they finished here she would probably never set foot on this island again.

Never once was Law asleep when she strolled back past the curtain, waving and giving a cheery 'goodbye' to her escort. Never once did he say anything, either, since she elected to ignore his presence, find her a comfy spot to lay down, and promptly go to sleep. Or look like she went to sleep. She waited every night for him to fall asleep before replacing his nodachi next to him.

Mara had no desire to talk to him. She was biding her time until someone else's life wasn't tied in this dilemma so she could actually move on with her plan. More days passed, bringing the total to eleven days spent on the island.

"What's this?"

Hancock looked over at Mara, who was hunched over a bookshelf in the palace library. They spent their afternoon talks in there, after the third day when Mara learned of its existence. It wasn't very hard to get Hancock to agree. All she had to do was casually ask, offer a bit of Luffy Intel, then wait for the agreement.

"What?" Hancock questioned.

Mara pulled a tome from the shelf, fingers delicately brushing the very thin layer of dust from the surface. From what she could tell, they didn't use the library all that much. Her question had been more to herself than the Shichibukai, though she supposed she should respond now that she had the other woman's attention. "This book."

Hancock moved in her graceful way to look over Mara's shoulder, quickly scanning the words written on the cover. "Some kind of medical text, I suppose…"

That much was obvious. Carefully, Mara flipped open the book and leafed through the pages. At first glance she would have called it a journal. Pictures and swirling handwriting filled the pages. Some of it was meticulous and neat, clearly meant to be some kind of informative text.

Then there was a slightly different handwriting which marked up all of the other available page space with modifications, observations, and notes. This was what interested her the most. She lifted the book closer to her face to read some of it better. Now, she wasn't any kind of purveyor of medical knowledge, but these didn't look like anything she had heard of before.

"This is a gold mine of knowledge…" Mara muttered, flipping the page and looking at the next.

"Would it be helpful?"

Mara glanced up at the taller woman. "It could be." With her limited knowledge on the subject, it was difficult for her to say for certain. "I don't really know. Captain Trafalgar would be able to make more sense of it than me."

"Take it." At the skeptical look she received, she elaborated, "if it might help Luffy…" Anything for Luffy, eh?

Might as well get something tangible out of the situation, even she hadn't intended to. "Thank you. I'll give it to him tonight."

The day passed much the same as the others. She didn't bother shopping once she left the palace. Instead she just wandering aimlessly, book tucked securely under one arm and nodachi resting in the other. Boy, she was just a pack mule for stuff belonging to Law.

She guessed it was something close to midnight when she returned to the camp. Like usual, she could see Law sitting under his tree and she waved to her escort. Unlike every other night she returned, Mara approached the captain.

If the action caught him off guard, he didn't show it. Moonlight glinted off his dark eyes eerily, though she took his silence as permission to continue. All of the Hearts were asleep in the submarine, something she was indefinitely happy for when she sat herself next to him.

"Good evening, Miss Mara," Law said, as if she did this every night.

Mara let out a breath of amusement. "Evening." Without another word, she handed the sword over. He took it and propped it up against the tree on his other side.

Well wasn't she just full of surprises today, Law mused silently. Normally she gave it back when she thought he was asleep. "Did something happen in town?"

"No." Technically it was the truth. Her eyes flickered down to the book in her lap. Trying to come up with something to say so she could give it to him made her feel silly. Law didn't press her. She could tell he was waiting for her to say something on her own, for reasons unfathomable. Where was the taunting? "I found this in the castle library," she began, showing the book to him.

He took it, and she marveled at the tattooed 'DEATH' flicking through pages of a medical text. It felt kind of ironic. "This is quite the find," he admitted after several moments.

Mara coughed, firmly setting her gaze away from him and out at the sea. "It's for you."

"Why?"

She looked back at him and suddenly wished she hadn't. Her eyes locked instantly with his. "I thought you might like it," she said slowly. "Why else do people give things to other people?"

Law shrugged, letting her gaze go. "Because they want something." He figured it was probably more common than her answer.

The pause was incredibly brief. "I want to change my answer."

This time he laughed, a single ebony brow raising. "Alright."

Mara cleared her throat in a mock-serious way. "I got you that book because I want something, Captain Trafalgar."

They both cracked a smile. At least it looked like he was getting somewhere with the stubborn, prideful woman. Also mock-serious, Law asked, "And what is it you want?"

"The truth." He waited for her to enlighten him further. "You do so many things that don't make sense even though you give me an explanation. I know you're lying a lot of the time and I get that." She would too if she didn't think it would have consequences. "But some things are just really starting to bother me."

His eyes didn't waver from her face and hers didn't waver from the empty patch of ground about ten feet in front of them. "Like what?"

"Your sword," she commented. "I wouldn't be able to use it properly in a fight and I think you know that. So why am I bringing it with me every day?"

"Having a weapon in plain sight carried so casually shows that you're confident in your abilities to handle any threat that happens along. People are far less likely to attack someone who looks like that," Law explained. That and it was the only possession he could mark her with that could have a use.

Mara took a second to digest this information. Logically stated like that, it made sense. "Fair enough."

"Will you continue to carry it?" he asked curiously.

The thought hadn't even crossed her mind. "Why wouldn't I?"

'Because normally your pride forms a protective wall from anything related to me,' Law thought, biting back the smirk that threatened to form. Looks like he was getting somewhere after all. "You had another question?"

Luckily, the darkness hid the blush that leapt up. Yeah, she had another question. Now that it was time to ask it, however… she didn't want to give voice to it. The silence crept over them as she fought herself internally.

No, it actually wasn't too dark for Law to see the pink tint to her cheeks. It was enough for him to guess what was on her mind, or at least be in the ballpark. "Miss Mara?"

She stood abruptly. "Never mind, it's not important."

"I beg to differ." Law stood as well, not intending her to let walk away from him so easily. Conversations with her were difficult to start these days and now that her mind was right where he wanted it, he wasn't about to let her leave. "If you prefer, you can answer one of my questions instead."

"Or I could just go to bed," Mara said with a frown. He couldn't make her talk.

Law just plowed on, not caring if he got an actual answer to the question. "Why did it irritate you when the women spoke to me?"

"They were loud and went on forever," she replied instantly.

"Are you sure?"

The odd glint in his eyes was a reason to be wary, she decided. It was something she hadn't seen there before and that was reason enough for concern. "Yes."

Law stepped toward her and she took an unconscious step back. When had she ever backed away from anything? Where was that stubborn pride? The thought seemed to hit them both at the same time, as when he took a longer step forward, she didn't move at all.

Words failed her. Her mouth opened to speak and snapped firmly shut again. His hand found her arm and she was pulled forward, a hairs breath away from him. Law waited for her to offer a protest or some indication that she was trying to get away.

Mara just seemed frozen, looking up at him with slightly widened eyes. So he pressed forward, still waiting for some kind of negative response. None came. Their lips came together, soft at first. Mara stiffened at the contact, having no idea how to read this new development.

Law noted with satisfaction that she didn't jerk away. Her hands went to rest with flat palms against his chest, but she didn't reject the contact. The kiss became more firm and his hands went to her waist, holding her against him.

Even though she didn't reject it in any way, it wasn't like she was accepting it. Mara just stood there, mind whirling at a million miles an hour. When he pulled away to look at her, she missed the warmth of his lips. Then she slapped herself mentally.

"'Something to be named later'," Law quoted, getting her attention. "Stop ignoring me."

"That's all you want?" Mara asked skeptically. She had expected something a little more difficult to deal with.

"That's all I want," he confirmed. Anything else he could get by just threatening her. Getting her to stop ignoring him without getting attitude was special.

"Alright…" She eyed him. "Can I go to bed now?"

Law swooped down and caught her lips again, reveling in how her eyes closed at the contact. The fingers on his chest curled into the cloth of his hoodie. Still she didn't kiss him back, but it was still something. "Now you can go to bed."

Mara opened and rolled her eyes, pulling herself from his grip. He gave her a lazy smirk as she walked toward the pile of blankets she slept in every night, occasionally looking over her shoulder at him suspiciously.

That night sleep eluded her.


	24. Chapter 24: Not Jealous

**Chapter 24: Not Jealous**

Mara watched Law work the best poker face she had been able to muster in a long time. Likely the only reason she managed to be so straight faced had to do with the sleep she got lost night, or lack thereof. There was none of it as she lay on her back, looking at the twinkling stars dotting the ebony sky. She had watched as the sky turned gray, then slowly shifted to blue.

When the Heart Pirates began to meander their way off the submarine she realized exactly how much time she had spent awake, thinking of everything and nothing. Sometimes having such an active brain was more of a hindrance than a benefit.

Still, she watched the doctor look over Luffy for any sign of change. The one good thing that came out of his request (well, one good thing she allowed herself to acknowledge) was that she was able to get more information on Luffy to give to Hancock.

"There still isn't much of a change," Law informed her, turning and heading for the door. He didn't have to tell her to follow. She did it on her own.

Mara heaved a sigh. "I hope he wakes up soon. I don't think I can take much more of Hancock's obsessive behavior." Putting up with girls wasn't her specialty. She didn't like how they felt the need to talk about the most insignificant or private things.

"You don't have to go see her," the doctor reminded her. "Those women can just come to be for information, like they did before."

"That's worse…"

From the way she muttered it under her breath, Law was positive she hadn't intended for him to hear it. Well, that was unfortunate. For her. "How is that worse?"

The scowl forming on her face just reminded him that she wasn't ignoring him anymore and made him immensely pleased. "It's not." Which was probably the worst thing she could have said, something she didn't realize until it was too late. It made her sound like she was hiding something, making the situation sound worse than just getting annoyed by talkative women.

Law took it exactly as she expected. "You don't like women talking to me, Miss Mara?" He asked innocently.

The innocent tone didn't work with him at all. Her face turned deadpan. "Oh, stuff it. I never said that." The assumption was the silliest thing she ever heard.

"Then I don't see the problem."

Mara rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter if you see the problem. I'm still going to go to the castle to see Hancock and deliver whatever news I can. That's not going to change."

"If I don't let you go it will." He had no intention of stopping her, but the conversation was presenting interesting opportunities for the lesser of his two current goals.

Not for one single second did she think he would threaten her into staying in the camp. The time for that was long past and it didn't seem like it was in his personality type. He wasn't that petty. "You can certainly try, Captain Trafalgar."

Her back hit the wall before she even knew either of them were moving. Mara blinked in surprise. Her wrists were being pinned to the wall on either side of her head. Law was giving her a smirk that sent pleasant shivers down her spine and the situation from the night before popped into her head almost instantly. She bat it down. This was not like that. Whatever the hell _that _had been.

"I don't think it would be very hard to restrain you," he said simply.

Instead of responding right away, Mara took the time to test his hold on her. It was pretty solid. "So, what, you're just going to hold me down all day?" She couldn't stop herself from asking sarcastically.

Law's smirk grew and he just allowed her own words to sink into her mind. The changes her expression went through were great: dry, blank, dawning horror, absolute horror, and finally her eyes focused on him again widened and alert.

"Please tell me that's not your plan."

"Not originally."

She groaned, hitting her head back against the wall as she looked up at the ceiling. What did she do? "I'm still going to the castle," she warned him. She just needed time to figure out exactly how she was going to do that.

Law made a thoughtful noise. Mara tilted her head slightly so she could see his face without taking the top of her head from the wall. He was eyeing her with interest, a look that was far more intimidating up close. No, intimidating wasn't the word. That wasn't the feeling in her gut.

Mara didn't want to spend time examining this unidentified emotion. "What?"

As if he were waiting for that very question (which was possible), a wicked grin spread across his lips. "Are you jealous, Miss Mara?"

Her eyes widened considerably and her head jerked back to its normal position. "Jealous of what?" The snap came out with more of a tone of panicked defense. Wow, she had to work on that. "To be jealous, I would have to…" She trailed off.

There was no way she could possibly be jealous of those women. Jealously implied that there were positive feelings toward someone, in this case Law. And not only positive feelings, but feelings that she had never given thought to in her entire life. So it simply wasn't possible.

If it wasn't possible, then what had that been last night? She didn't exactly push him away, or yell, or throw a punch, or _anything_. And now she was just back to where she was last night, somewhere between mildly black sky to light gray sky. The thoughts made her become ridiculously aware of the fact that he was still pinning her to the metal wall.

"…like you." No. It wasn't possible. She didn't like him in any sense of the term and that was final. End of story. Goodbye.

"That's what jealousy is," Law agreed readily. It didn't look like she was listening, her eyes had a faraway look to them. He used the time she was lost in thought to press his lips to hers.

Mara nearly jumped out of her skin as she was violently ripped from her thoughts to find Law kissing her again, and this time she realized with horror that he had managed to coax her wandering mind to respond to him.

That was ending. Now.

She craned her neck back to press against the wall as much as she could, effectively separating them. Law did not retreat, his warm breath fanning across her lips. Her eyes darted down to look at his lips before going back to his eyes. "That proves nothing. I was elsewhere."

"Your body betrays you, Miss Mara." Slowly, so she was aware of everything from proximity to his touch, he let her go and backed away, letting her regain her balance.

It took all of her focus for her to become blank-faced. The places his hands had been holding her wrists felt like they burned, as did her lips. They stared each other down, neither showing any emotion, for several long minutes.

All of her earlier musings were unimportant anyway, feelings didn't matter. This was just another way for him to get under her skin, to bother her with an unused tactic. It wasn't like it meant anything. At the very least, she was sure of that much.

Her lips pulled into a frown. "I don't like you and I'm not jealous." Before he could respond, she spun on her heel and quickly walked to the deck. She could hear his heels clicking behind her as she went but he didn't say anything.

The sunlight made her squint as she stepped out. Her hand went up to block the light from her eyes and she laughed herself over the side of the submarine to land on the rocky cliff side. The Hearts were scattered around the camp doing various activities. She noticed one group in particular was playing cards.

Law was right behind her but she just went to her spot, picked up one of her books, and buried her nose in it. "I'm not ignoring you," she called, gaze flickering up to see him plopping down by his tree with a tall purple bottle in hand.

"Good."

With that settled, she returned to the pages of the book and picked up where she had left off two hours earlier. It a text explaining some of the women's fighting style. It didn't take much to coerce Hancock into handing it over. All she did was ask, mention Luffy, and bam, instant book. It was a pretty foolproof strategy. And since it was so interesting, she didn't notice as the minutes turned into an hour and the sun loomed overhead once again.

One of the Heart men heaved a sigh, placing a card on the small table between him and a group of his crewmates. "How much longer do we have to stay in such a small space?"

"Yeah, the only thing to look forward to is-"

"Guys, sorry to keep you waiting!" A woman called. Mara recognized her as Margaret, a younger blond haired warrior.

"It's meal time!" Another chimed in, a larger woman named Sweet Pea.

"Finally!" The men cheered. They weren't happy to see the food. They were happy to see the four women carrying the food. Mara glanced up from her book to see the men rushing towards the females, their card game completely forgotten.

"Here you go!"

"The only consolation is that the food is good!" The man, who had been speaking previously, finished.

"I agree!"

The four women got to work quickly, placing the baskets on the ground and pulling out a large pot of stew. The tallest took a seat and began to dish it out. "Please don't push, and wait your turn."

"Aphelandra!" The last of the four scolded. She was slicing a large slab of meat, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Don't talk to men! Luffy is the exception because of the princess' decree. Don't forget!"

It didn't look like what she said registered on Aphelandra's face, though the girl agreed, "Okay!"

"Come on, it's no big deal," one of the Hearts protested. "Right, Aphelandra?"

There was a crash as the table the stern woman sliced on was cut in half. "I'm not gonna say it again!"

The pirates scampered away from the irate woman, shouting, "We're sorry!" It was always eventful when the women showed up.

"Excuse me." Mara's eyes drifted from them over to Law, who was sitting against a tree drinking from the purple bottle. It was Margaret who spoke. Law lowered his bottle and looked over at the blond. "Is Luffy awake?" Law was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "I see."

"It's up to Mister Strawhat's spirit." She looked surprised that he was speaking to her. "Whether he's willing to live or not." After the recent occurrences, that was debatable.

"Margaret, let's go already!" The stern woman called.

"I'm coming!" She called over her shoulder. "I'm sorry! Take good care of Luffy!" She turned and paused. "Oh wait." Her long strides brought her to Mara, who was already standing up.

"I'm coming. I'm sure Boa would like to hear about his check up this morning," Mara commented off-hand. Without even looking, she reached out and snatched the nodachi from the air as it sailed toward her.

"I'm sure she will," Margaret agreed cheerfully. The two women joined the other three by the edge of the blanket boundary.

"Margaret, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk to them?!" The onyx haired woman snapped as they took off down the same path the various women took every day.

"I'm sorry!"

"Oh lighten up," Mara said to the woman.

Which earned a heated glare. "Men aren't even supposed to be on this island. We aren't supposed to interact with them. It's the law."

That made no goddamn sense. "By bringing them food, you're already interacting with them. How can talking and being civil break the law more than that?"

The woman opened her mouth to probably say some pretty rude things, but Margaret intervened. "It's alright, we really _aren't _supposed to. But…" Her eyes lit up as she looked at Mara and the agent felt instantly on edge. "The things we want to know about men _you_ could tell us, couldn't you?"

Shit.

"I don't think I'm the best-"

"You know a lot more about men than we do. You travel with a good number of them, after all," the young blond girl reasoned.

"That's… true." However much she wished it weren't. Girl talk was not her thing. Never was and never would be. When she had the chance to interact with people, she usually preferred the company of the other gender when at all possible. Mara sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Do all men stretch?" The question shot out of Aphelandra's mouth faster than Mara thought was physically possible.

It also caught Mara completely off-guard. "Stretch?" It made sense they would think that, she supposed, if the only man they ever came in contact with was Luffy. But still… "No. Luffy ate a Devil Fruit to become a rubber man. Kind of like how Captain Trafalgar ate a Devil Fruit to become a modify man."

She was about to add Hancock as an example, too, but something told her they might not be aware the woman's odd powers came from something like that. They probably thought she was cursed or something by… who knew what.

The women took some time to digest this information. "What's it like to be close to a man?" Margaret asked suddenly.

Mara sent her a neutral look. "That could mean a lot of things," she said slowly. "But I get the feeling you're asking romantically." The rumors about Amazon Lily said that the women left to become pregnant then came back and had the kid. So they knew they would have to get close to a man, but judging by Margaret's age she assumed the girl hadn't done that yet.

It appeared the conversation had the complete attention of the other three women as well. "Yes," Margaret confirmed with a nod.

"What makes you think I know that?" Mara asked.

The blond blinked in confusion. "The way you were protecting the doctor on the submarine when you guys first arrived. I just assumed…"

"Oh, I want to hear about that, too," Aphelandra chimed.

"Yeah!" Seat Pea agreed as well.

Mara's eyes widened in shock. "W-what?" The thought had never even occurred to her. And did she really protect him that day? She flipped through her memories, trying in vain to find the moment the other woman was talking about. "Me and Captain Trafalgar?"

The three enthusiastic members of the group nodded, while the black haired woman crossed her arms with a frown. "Yeah! What do you do with him?"

Mara almost tripped over own feet, her grip tightening around the blade on her shoulder. She cleared her throat to try and dispel the awkwardness of the situation. "I mostly just get on his nerves, I think," she said. The puppy eyes she received told her that wasn't enough. "No, no, no. That's enough of this. Nothing is going on between me and Captain Trafalgar." Probably.

They let out a collective whine, but didn't protest further than that. Mainly because the stern woman looked like she was going to hit them if they did. Mara didn't think it was possible for her to like that particular woman, but she was feeling a great deal of respect.

That made two conversations she didn't want to have, both crammed into the same day. And she hadn't even reached the castle yet, where hours of Luffy-talk awaited her. Today was going to be a long day.


	25. Chapter 25: Awake

**Chapter 25: Awake**

The day that Luffy woke up started like any other. Sunny without a hint of a breeze, men playing cards, Mara reading a book, and, oh yeah, a scream followed by an explosion from inside the submarine. The yellow craft rocked violently.

Law, Jimbei, and Mara were on their feet, the objects they had been occupying themselves with discarded in the dirt. They ran to the submarine, only to be stopped feet from the shore when something small exploded out of the top and launched into the air.

Mara's eyes widened in shock. "Was that Luffy?!" He wasn't supposed to be up yet, let alone launching himself all over the place!

Indeed it was Luffy. He landed on the ground in a tumbling roll, head over ass, until he landed on his stomach near the middle of their little shore space. Law was unable to voice anything, his shock so severe, but Jimbei called, "Luffy!"

The heavily damaged boy pushed himself up with shaking arms, fingers digging into the dirt. "Ace… Ace…" Luffy ground out, his voice cracking near the end. He reared back, shrieking, "WHERE'S ACE?!"

The following maddened rampage was accented by Heart Pirates flying in every direction as they unsuccessfully tried to stop Luffy from moving, chasing him around in circles. Mara could tell by the blank look in his eyes that Luffy had absolutely no idea where he was or what was going on.

"Watch out! Calm down, Strawhat!"

After the initial shock, Law and Jimbei planted themselves back on the ground. "What will happen if he carries on like this?" Jimbei asked the doctor.

"Well, it's simple," Law said evenly. "Like I said when we got here, if his wound opens up, he will die." There was no point sugar coating it, not that Law ever would.

Mara crossed her arms. She was still standing as she watched the 'battle' happening in front of her. Luffy tripped. The Hearts took that as their queue to leap on the boy in an attempt to hold him down. "Now's our chance!"

A muffled, "Let me go, dammit!" reached their ears.

"Stay still, Strawhat!"

"Shut up! I'm looking for Ace!" Luffy insisted angrily. Nothing was more important to him than finding his older brother.

"Fire Fist Ace has already-"

"I said let me go!" The Heart Pirates were thrown from Luffy in a surprising burst of strength, for someone who was mostly dead. "WHERE'S ACE?! AAAAAAAAACE!" Mad with pain, he took off into the trees at full speed, shouting his head off.

"He's completely beyond our control! Straw Hat! Stooooop!"

"Ah, shit," Mara cursed, watching as Jimbei ran after the boy into the forest. She rubbed her head with a sigh. What were they going to do now? Luffy wasn't likely to calm down before he killed himself. That seemed like a poor way to live the life that had been rescued.

"Let them go," Law called to her.

He said himself that the boy would die, but Mara listened to him and took a seat where Jimbei had been. "Hard not to like him, isn't it?" she asked him.

An amused breath came from the captain. "That would explain the convicts, pirates, Yonko, and Shichibukai who helped him."

"Where did they run off to..?" Shachi wondered.

"Don't ask me," Penguin replied, holding his hands up in defense. "We're under orders from the Empress and her crew not to set foot beyond this area."

"Still…" Shachi trailed. "They say any man who sets foot here will be turned to stone and never return. I guess he must be prepared to gamble his life."

Mara rolled her eyes. Of course Strawhat Luffy was prepared to gamble his life. When did he _not?_ He punched a Tenryuubito in the face, for god's sake. Then, according to what Emoprio Ivankov said, broke _into_ Impel Down, the impenetrable prison fortress, and fought his way down to level six and back. Right before heading to Marineford.

"I'd sure like to see the land of women for myself..!" Penguin said.

"I'd like to see the Isle, too," Shachi agreed.

"Don't be stupid. You'd get killed, you know!" Despite Penguin's words, both men bad stupid, blushing looks on their faces.

"D'you think there's be any female bears?" Bepo asked hesitantly.

They turned on him instantly. "It's the Isle of Women!" They shouted, as if that was all they needed to say.

Bepo looked down, dejected. "I'm sorry…"

This was starting to get painful to hear. Mara frowned and jerkily turned to face the sea. "God, if all men think like this I might just go join the women here."

Law looked up from the straw hat he had perched on his fingers (delivered via Bepo) to see her not-so silent fuming. To be honest, he hadn't even given any thought to being on the legendary island. He could see how this was eye opening to her, being an objective observer himself.

He shifted so he was sitting next to her, the straw hat never leaving his hand. "They're just men who haven't gotten their priorities straight yet, Miss Mara."

She scoffed. "Oh, and you have?"

"I like to think so."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're a pirate who isn't after 'booty'?" The serious tone to her voice just made the statement funnier, and both of them gave a light smile.

Law held the box hanging from his waist aloft, and gave her a crooked grin. "The heart of one woman is enough for me."

Instead of getting annoyed, as she expected the second he brought her heart into it, she laughed. "How charming." And she was surprised to find that it actually sort of was. Her smile turned gentle and she looked back out at the sea.

"You spend a lot of time looking at what's out there," he observed quietly, intending to keep the conversation from his crew.

Mara gave a tiny little laugh that made his heart clench. "I suppose I do. When I was a child, all I wanted to do was explore the world. See everything there is to see," she admitted softly. "My mother and my father did. That was how they met."

The memories of them make her happy and sad all at the same time. When they were alive, she had adored her parents and they her. But they had died when she was only seven, leaving her alone with Helios. She wouldn't have wished that kind of a life on anyone, even her enemies. The idea of going to sea and exploring the world as they had was the only thing that had kept her going as a child.

"You still can," Law reminded her, pulling her from her thoughts. "Plenty of people do." Merchants, naval officers, archaeologists, pirates… the list went on and on. "You're currently surrounded by people who do."

The sound of waves was all there was for a few seconds. "I never thought of piracy like that before." Surely, that was how Monkey D. Luffy saw it. She chewed on the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "Actually, I've just never thought about piracy. I was too busy trying to appease Helios."

There was silence. They could hear the Heart Pirates going back to what they had been doing prior to Luffy waking up. "What would you do if you were allowed to just… leave? Without any obligations to anybody, and only this to guide you?" The box was lifted before them again, and Law sent her sideways glance.

Mara shrugged. "I don't know. Too many people control my direction for me to even consider something like that."

"Consider it now," he insisted. "If none of us were here to hold you back, what would you do?" He included himself in the list because he knew that was what he was to her. Something holding her back from doing what she wanted. Not that he expected to be considered anything else.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek in thought. What _would _she do? The question seemed obvious and yet… so out of reach. "I suppose… I would do whatever my heart told me to. You know, assuming it was there to talk to me," she joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

It only partially worked; Law chuckled slightly. "This is assuming it was," he assured her.

There was definite surety in her nod this time. "Then it would have to tell me what it wanted. Other than that, who can say?"

"That's an interesting answer, Miss Mara," Law mused.

"Why thank you, Captain Trafalgar." She leaned back, resting her hands on the grass behind her. "Do you do this kind of thing often, then?"

He contemplated the question. "What, kidnap attractive women, steal their hearts, and turn them into pirates?" Mara made an amused noise of confirmation. "No, I can't say that I do. I don't run across many who fit the criteria very often."

Sapphire eyes rolled, accompanied by a pleasing laugh. Mara was pretty sure he had just complimented her. Now she just needed to find out if he was being sarcastic or not. Gods, talking to him was a full time job. "My, my. So, if you did find many attractive women, would you?"

Law shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I don't really look, so I can't say that I would."

Her brows rose straight up her forehead. "You don't look at women?" He shook his head, curious by her shock. "_At all_? Not even the flock in the clothing store back on Sabaody that all _clearly _wanted you?"

The captain quirked a brow. "What?"

Mara gaped like a fish for a few seconds. "You can't be serious. In fact, I'm certain you're not. What kind of a man doesn't notice such a blatant display of group affection?" On the upside, this meant he probably hadn't noticed any of the times she struggled with her random bouts of affection. Not that she was admitting to it or anything.

She couldn't have been more wrong with her thoughts. Law hummed in thought. "And what kind of a woman, I wonder, _does_ notice it? It wasn't directed at you and I'm fairly certain you were supposed to be focused on clothes at the time." He wouldn't trade this conversation for the world. Her face was reddening, from anger or embarrassment he didn't know.

"Alright, fine," Mara conceded in annoyance. "A flock of horny women isn't good enough for Trafalgar Law. Does the completely gorgeous Boa Hancock slip under your notice, then, too?"

Once again, the pirate shrugged. "She's just a woman. Is there supposed to be something special about her?" The edge of teasing in the last sentence told her he knew what he was saying this time. The first one comment, it seemed, was his actual opinion.

Mara cast him an odd look. "You don't even think the most beautiful woman in the world is attractive?"

"That's a difficult title to possess," Law mused. "And I don't think it's true. That Shichibukai is just a woman who attempts to make herself beautiful so she can get what she wants from anybody." The rumors and articles about her were pretty clear on that.

Well, _that_ was humbling to hear. "You're just a big ball of stubborn male honesty, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "And you're just a big ball of stubborn female denial."

Mara refused to rise to the bait. "Yeah, yeah. So while we're being a ball of honesty, why don't you tell me something." He made a noise of approval. "Why do you insist on keeping me around and being nice to me when every person here knows I'm trying to stick a knife in your ribs? Which, by the way, you've given me unrestricted access to." The knives _and_ the ribs.

"Are you _admitting _to trying to kill me?" Law asked innocently.

Mara rolled her eyes at his tone. "Don't give me that. You've known that was my goal since the day we went to the human auction," she reminded him gruffly. "That's why you haven't been sleeping in your room. So you wouldn't be killed in your sleep."

"Hm." Was all she got from him for a while. She was forced to listen to the sounds of Penguin and Shachi debating the Isle of Women behind them as she waited for an answer. "That's a logical conclusion you've drawn there. But it's not correct."

She rose a delicate brow. "Oh, is it not?"

"No."

"Then what is the reason?" She asked irritated. Why else would he avoid her after their little encounter in the medical bay?

The look he sent her was intense and shot right to her core. She shifted uncomfortably under the penetrating gaze, wondering what was going through his mind. "That's something for another time, I think," he said finally.

A large splash of water shooting from the calm belt in front of the them interrupted her as she opened her mouth, and they both looked out at the occurrence suspiciously. It was called the calm belt for a reason. "Look, it's a Sea King!" Penguin called, looking through his binoculars.

"What's it doing?!" Shachi asked the other man. "Fighting?!"

"It's dead! Something killed it!"

"But it's so huge…!"

"I didn't see what got it," Penguin said worriedly. "The sea is truly a frightening place..!"

"Says the pirate," Mara muttered, now watching as the look of Law's face darkened in annoyance and surprise. Whatever it was, the captain clearly wished it weren't there. Mara leaned over the side of the cliff they sat on to see a older man climbing out of the water onto the rocky shore below. Well, she hardly expected to see _him_ here.

"A person?!" Shachi shouted in confusion.

"Hey, who are you?!" Penguin chimed in.

"D… D…" Bepo attempted to say. "Dark King Rayleigh!"

"Oh, it's you," Rayleigh said, recognizing the Heart Pirates from the incident at the auction house. "We met at Sabaody Archipelago, didn't we?"

"Why were you swimming in the calm belt?" Mara asked slowly.

"Well, you see… my ship was sunk in a storm and I had to swim to shore," the old man explained. "I'm getting old, though, and my body doesn't work the way it used to."

"A storm?! There aren't any storms in the calm belt!" Penguin protested. "Wait, does that mean you wrecked somewhere else and swam all this way?! Then…" he put the pieces together. "Are you the one who fought the sea king?!"

"Yeah, that's right. I have a good breaststroke." As if that was all the explanation her needed. Rayleigh sat down and started wringing out his clothes.

"That's not the point," Penguin muttered.

"Oh, yeah!" Rayleigh smiled disarmingly at Law. "I assume that Luffy must be on this island now." The captain's eyes narrowed.

Mara, imitating how he did to her, placed a hand on Law's shoulder to calm the smoldering man. "That seems like quite the assumption to jump to. How did you know that?"

"It is made sense he would come here," Rayleigh provided. "Boa Hancock's Warlord status alongside the island's reputation makes it the perfect hiding place."

That just rose more questions, but before Mara could voice them Law suddenly stood and declared, "In that case, it's time for us to take our leave."

"What?! But captain-"

"We've done our part," Law explained. Luffy was awake and someone else had shown up to take care of him. "It's time for us to move on. Prepare to leave." The men groaned out their complaints as they were carrying all the stuff back to the submarine. They were disappointed, yes, but they still respected their captain's decision.

The captain took hold of Mara's hand and she used the proximity to take the straw hat from him, which she handed to Rayleigh. "Careful. He's not in a good place right now."

"I understand."

"Mister Strawhat will need absolute rest another two weeks," was all the instruction the doctor gave. When the Dark King nodded with another smile, Law pulled Mara to the submarine. The crew had already gotten everything on board and were waiting on the two. The speed at which they accomplished the task amazed her.

"Got it," the old man confirmed. "Thanks for everything."

The tug on Mara was insistent, but she didn't want to just abruptly leave like this. Not that she had a choice. So she settled for waving at the man now sitting on a rock, and he waved back at her. Then she was tugged below deck and the door closed behind her.

"Prepare to dive," he called down the halls, letting go of her hand. The lack of a pull didn't stop her from following him all the way to the control room, where he sat in the captain's chair and kicked his heeled feet up on the beeping panels and folded his tattooed arms behind his head.

"What a waste… We were so close…" They could hear Penguin lament from the doorway.

"I wish we could have seen the Isle of Women…" Shachi agreed.

"I wish they were bears," Bepo murmured.

"Shut up, you!" Both Penguin and Shachi yelled at the animal. They didn't want bears. They wanted to see all the lovely shapes of the women.

"I wonder what the Dark King has planned…" Law mused. Mara sat next to him. "'D' will cause a storm again, that's for sure…" he chuckled darkly at the thought. "Can't wait to see him again."

"You are one scary man, Captain Trafalgar," Mara informed him, her light tone contrasting with his dark look spectacularly. The part she didn't say was that it was also the most attractive thing she had ever witnessed. A frown tugged at her lips and she couldn't fight the blush that rose to her cheeks.

She really needed to stab him. Like now. He was starting to get into her head, as she had expected, and she didn't like it at all.

His darkened, smirking visage was pointed at her now. "Oh?"

Mara nodded and planted herself cross-legged on the floor beside his chair. "Yes." In an attempt to steer the conversation away, she added, "where are we going? Straight for the New World, or do you have other plans?"

"I have other plans," Law confirmed. "We're currently heading for a small island named Khoriel."

Khoriel. The name was familiar, and she took her time figuring out why. "Isn't that… hm." That couldn't be right. There was absolutely nothing interesting there. "Isn't Khoriel the small island near Sabaody, the one that's too small and uninhabitable to be of any use to anybody?"

"Yes."

The woman frowned. "Why would you want to go there?"

Law's eyes never wavered from hers. "Do you recall the package that we delivered at Marineford?"

The conversation had taken a U-turn somewhere. "…yes?"

"We're scheduled to meet the recipient of that package the day after tomorrow on that island," Law commented easily.

"You mean a marine," Mara guessed. "What business could you possibly have with one specific marine?" Sure they were all his enemies, but this seemed… suspicious.

Law closed his eyes, relaxing into his chair even more. "I plan to kill him, of course."


	26. Chapter 26: Oh, Hell No!

**Chapter 26: Oh, **_**Hell**_** No!**

The island was exactly as expected. Small. Only big enough to put one or two villages on with a little bit of extra room. That would never come to pass, however, due to the entirety of the island being made out of some kind of black rock and absolutely nothing else. Perhaps it had been formed by an underground volcano, Mara mused. This place had been abandoned by the World Government thirty years ago when it was formed.

The majority of the perimeter was reminiscent of the place on Amazon Lily they had been allowed to stay; tall cliffs and long drops into the rock spotted ocean below. The only tall objects were the large rock formations. There were no trees. No grass. Not even dirt. There was no hope for plants to survive here, and there thus no hope for animals either. Nothing at all could survive on this island.

It seemed a fitting place for the apparently brutal murder Law had in mind.

The yellow submarine parked itself on the only beach on the island, made entirely of black sand. Mara ran her fingers through the powder when she found herself standing on the beach. It was softer than any other sand she had even felt, and glittered menacingly in the sunlight as it filtered back through her fingers to the ground.

No one but Law followed her off the submarine and his eyes never left the rocky pathways leading away from the beach. They were all surrounded by tall rock walls, in varying heights. This would not be a good place to be caught unaware.

"Where will this guy be?" Mara questioned, glancing back at his ship. Surely he didn't intend to wander off into this island without his crew. That was suicide. They didn't know who else was here.

"Likely farther inland, closer to the other side of the island." His eyes never stopped jumping between the surrounding rocks.

Uneasily, Mara looked to them as well. Any number of marines could be hiding out there, not just the one Law summoned. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Captain Trafalgar?"

"Positive." Law took the middle path confidently, his face one of grim determination. If he had a problem with Mara following him, he didn't voice it. Nor did he look like he cared that this was the perfect opportunity for her to kill him.

She didn't. The whole situation was far too curious for her to ignore, like all the other times he didn't bother to watch her properly. Maybe he planned it that way. She wouldn't put it past him. But who was this mystery marine, and why did Law want him dead so badly? Badly enough that he would take the time to taunt the man in the middle of such an important war?

"Are you ever going to tell me what was in that package, now that it's become relevant?" Mara wondered as they walked. There was literally no way for her to know without him telling her and it was really starting to nag at her mind.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," came the cryptic reply.

Navy eyes rolled. "Seriously? You can't just tell me?"

The corner of his lips tugged up dryly. "I think it will be pretty clear when we get there. It's not like I put a bomb in it or something."

That particular idea hadn't even crossed her mind until now. "No, I don't expect you would have. It's not your style."

"My style?" Law repeated, taking his eyes off the landscape long enough to send her an amused smirk. "And what would you call my style?"

Sexy.

She literally could not help it when she smacked herself in the head. He seemed to know that it wasn't from what he said, because he chuckled, amusement radiating off him in waves. "You're a little more subtle than a bomb," Mara attempted to recover. "And, to be perfectly honest here, I don't think that would creep people out as much as you'd like."

"What makes you think I like to 'creep people out', Miss Mara?" Law questioned lightly, shifting so that his nodachi rested on his shoulder more comfortably.

Once again, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. The creepy smirks, the finger tattoos, the stealing people's hearts, your devil fruit… Do I really need to keep going?" He made an amused noise. "No. A bomb doesn't suit you. You like to scare people. Crawl in their minds and really get to them, while looking like it's the most normal thing in the world to you."

"An interesting assessment, to be sure," Law commented.

"I'm right, aren't I?" It wasn't really a question. He simply glanced back at her, looking completely at ease with her assumption. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

They went quiet for what turned into dozens of minutes. The rocky path never really seemed to change, always looking foreboding, always with cliffs looking down on them from both sides. They were making her nervous on their, without the feeling that someone was watching them. Which was totally there as well so it was ten times worse.

Law, however, made no indication that he thought anyone else was around, continuing his even path through the ravine. Maybe she was just going crazy. It was a possibility with how far up the wall Law continuously drove her. Or maybe she was just being paranoid, like she was taught from the wonderful age of seven.

The very idea of it made her shiver and scuttle up behind Law, keeping him within half a foot of her. He glanced back at her. "There's nothing to worry about, Miss Mara."

"There's always something to worry about, Captain Trafalgar," the woman refuted. Her mind caught up to her mouth and she gave a nervous laugh, trying to cover up her insecurity with levity. "I mean, every time I don't something unexpected and unpleasant happens. Exhibit A: You. Exhibit B: Zen and Weiss. Exhibit C: Eustass Kid."

Law didn't appreciate her attempt to cover up the emotions he'd been trying to see since day one. "You're afraid."

And for once, he got what he wanted. Complete honesty.

"Always."

* * *

The path led them through the island with ease. Law never showed any sign of slowing or stopping, even after they had walked for several hours through the winding ravine. It looked as if he didn't expect to get attacked during the walk, but Mara knew better. There was a subtle clench to his jaw that told her he was ready for anything this place threw at him.

That was good, because the feeling of being watched didn't leave Mara once during the trek. Before long, they were going to be attacked. Definitely. "How long is this path?" Mara wondered aloud. The silence had extended from her admission earlier and was turning rather stifling.

"That's a good question." Law eyed the bend ahead of them. "I would say it ends over there, if I had to guess."

"What makes you think that?"

"How long we've been walking. The island isn't all that big, we're probably close to the other side by now." His expression darkened. They were nearing the other side of the island, and yet hadn't run into their opponent by now. Had the package really not worked? No, he didn't believe that was the case. Not with these circumstances.

"So then where's-" Mara's question was cut off by way of a crossbow bolt imbedding itself in the rock wall behind where Law had been seconds before.

The pirate was closer to her now, pushing her behind him. Suddenly it didn't feel like as good of an idea to bring her along, now that the game was starting. Nothing else happened. Both of their eyes were locked onto the cliff top across from them. "I see you got my invitation," Law commented calmly.

"Invitation my ass." Absolute dread crept into Mara's severed heart at the voice.

_The darkened closet was flooded with light so suddenly it blinded her, only allowing her to see the gleam of metal. The shriek of a terrified young girl pierced the air._

"_Pirates_," the man spat. They still couldn't see him, though it was obvious where he was. "You all think you can do whatever you want. But you can't. You never could."

_"Stop it!" The tiny girl wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks. Pain erupted from where her shoulder was trapped under the heel of his shoe. "HELP ME!" Someone, anyone! Stop him! Get him off me! Help!_

_No one came. _

_No one ever did._

Law's lip curled up in grim satisfaction. "You didn't like it?" He had thought it quite tasteful.

The man showed himself, standing tall on a ridge above them, crossbow carelessly held in one hand. He was nearly six foot, an imposing figure in his fluttering black cloak, with long wavy brown hair and narrowed eyes, dark with hate. Helios Reade.

_"What's wrong with you?!" The words barely escaped her lips before she could feel her finger snap, already having been under the tension of a steely grip. _

_"I was wondering the same thing about you, " Helios commented, tone way to light for their current… predicament. She could feel all his weight on her back as she was pinned to the floor, her hand trapped between his. He tutted. "If you're not with the World Government, you must be evil," he reasoned. "You're not evil, are you, Mara?"_

Mara was frozen behind Law, unable to take her eyes away from him. Law had been taunting _Helios_? What on earth would possess him to do that? What could Law possibly gain from killing this one random Cipher Pol agent? Her brain was drawing a blank.

Helios gave Law a once over, sizing him up. "You cut up my subordinates and put their bloody heads in a box, Trafalgar." He did _what_ now? Was he _insane_? "Excuse me if I don't find that amusing."

_Her heart was pounding so hard it was the only thing she could hear. Her fingers grasped the tree with such force that the bark bit into her skin, and she could feel the warm liquid pooling under her fingers. If she just didn't move… maybe…_

_Pain shot through her back and she jumped away as best she could, only to be snatched by the arm and held still. She didn't struggle past that. It would only make things worse. "If I can find you, you weren't trying hard enough," Helios hissed. "I don't think you're taking this training very seriously."_

_Oh, she was. The training was a matter of life and death for her. Or life and eternal servitude, as he had hinted at just yesterday. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when she was thrown to the ground, landing painfully on her already cut and bloody arm. _

_"Try again."_

Following Law off that submarine was the worst decision of her life. No matter how this played out, she still lost in the end. And she certainly didn't want to be around them to be caught up in this in the mean time. The one thing that had comforted her while she was trapped on that submarine were her thoughts of never seeing Helios again. Yet here he was, right in front of her.

Worst. Decision. Ever.


	27. Chapter 27: Brother Dear

**Chapter 27: Brother Dear**

It had been easy playing the marks on her back off in front of Law all those days ago. He didn't know her, so he couldn't know what those scars truly meant. Being here on this island, right in front of the man who caused them, made it impossible for her to hide the spike of fear driving its way into her heart.

Law didn't budge from his spot in front of Mara. He could see the terror she failed to disguise out of the corner of his eye as she peered around him. When he first met her and decided he wanted to know what she was feeling behind her sarcastic prideful mask, this wasn't what he expected. And now finally seeing what she kept hidden made him want to erase the cause of her fear from the planet.

Those dark, unforgiving eyes shifted to land on Mara. A sneer of disgust pulling at Helios' lips as he took the sight of her in. "And I see you brought my darling little sister."

Mara was having trouble mustering up something to say. There was nothing she _wanted _to say to him. So she settled for a strained, "Helios."

The wavering response appeared to please him greatly. Nothing quite compared to the sight of someone unable to rise against you. "Why am I not surprised that you're the one who caused all of this? How did you get caught, anyway?"

Mara remained silent. Anything she said would just make things worse when they were inevitably face to face.

He didn't need encouragement to continue. "What, no chains? No blood? You're just helping him because you _want _to, then, I suppose?" Helios surmised. "You've always been a terrible agent, but I didn't think you were this bad."

"He stole my heart," Mara cut back dryly, finding her tongue if only for a moment.

Helios did not look amused. "How sweet."

A loud click echoed across the rocks and the siblings looked to Law. Mara had forgotten he was there. Law lifted the clear blue cube holding her pulsing heart from the box for the other man to see. For a minute he just held it there, turning it in his hand, letting the reality of the situation sink in. "Quite literally, actually, Mister Reade."

Revulsion, disgust, and shock were the main emotions they could see. "You have an atrocious power, Trafalgar," Helios snapped.

Before harm could come to it, Law replaced the heart back in the box and sealed it back up. He shrugged. "Matter of opinion. I've also been told it's 'cool'."

Her brother's narrowed eyes went back to Mara. "So you just accepted this and started following him around like a dog? What the hell did I teach you?"

"Oh, I gave it my best shot," Mara said, voice wavering in the strength she barely found. "I've learned that Captain Trafalgar is remarkably perceptive. It's been rather hard pulling anything over on him." That wasn't really true. Right before the war started, she spent the majority of six days in a room all by herself. She could have literally done anything.

The look on Helios' face said he wasn't buying it. There were always times when an agent was alone, always time when there wasn't enough attention. "Just wait until I take care of this rookie, Mara," he threatened. "Then you and I are going to have a private chat."

Law glared up at Helios. "That's not going to happen." Either of those things. He was going to make sure Helios never get another private moment with his little sister. It didn't matter that he didn't know the depth of the problems here. Mara's fear was reason enough. He lifted his hand in front of him. "Room."

"Tell me, Trafalgar," Helios said, pulling a sword from his cloak. No better place to hide a large weapon than in a bulky piece of cloth. "Why did you bother taunting me? You and I wouldn't have crossed paths for a long time, so I'm hardly an obstacle." Law merely unsheathed his nodachi. "Don't tell me this is because of Mara."

She seriously doubted it.

"The reason doesn't matter. The end result will be the same," Law told him. He didn't need to explain himself to a sociopath.

"True."

Law swung, effectively shutting down whatever Helios planned to say next. He was pretty sure it was going to be something meant to scare the woman behind him, so he decided to shut the other man up before that happened. He was getting tired of this man. Fast.

The ledge on which Helios was standing gained a slice right between where his feet had been. The agent himself was gone again, and Mara looked around frantically to find him. He could be literally anywhere, though she had a sinking suspicion of where he'd end up.

_"If you can't stay hidden, you can't stay safe." The statement was right in her ear, coming from the man who hadn't been behind her one second ago. A startled cry ripped from her throat. She jumped forward and spun around, coming face to face with him. "If you don't start getting better, I'll have to start offering incentives."_

"Boo."

Even though she expected the breathing down her neck, she still jumped out of her skin. Law wasted no time spinning around, using his free hand to grab her waist and spin her as well, and he was already swinging before he stopped moving. Helios was gone again.

A laugh rang out, echoing across the rocks. "Oh come now, Trafalgar. Surely you don't think I'd stay in one place long enough for you to chop me up. I've done my research on you." If he didn't stay in constant motion, he could end up a pile of body parts.

That was only partially true. Law began to cut at random, effectively killing the laughter in its tracks. All around them, rock formations toppled and fell as they were sliced like butter. The sounds were absolutely deafening.

"Come out here and play," came the call from where the path ahead of them used to be. Helios wasn't going to stand around in such a terrible place while Law destroyed things willy-nilly. That was a terrible idea.

The playful call ceased Law's hand. Before Mara could protest, he had teleported over the wreckage out onto the other side. Indignantly, Mara puffed out her cheeks. Of course she got left behind. Apparently, this fight was going to be fought without her. She scrambled over the wreckage of once beautiful rock faces, feet kicking loose rocks in her haste.

What she found on the other side wasn't what she expected. They were closer to the other side of the island than she thought; it was literally right there, a good hundred feet away. The expanse between her and the drop-off into the water was almost completely flat. Practically unnaturally so.

Law and Helios were going at it someone where in the center of this flat plain, closer than Mara would have thought possible. Helios was only a foot or two away from the pirate as he danced around him. He literally could not pause or her would be cut apart. So he stepped often and quickly.

The small rock ridges and solid floors around them were torn up as if they were cloth, deep gashes appearing everywhere. Entire top halves of rock walls fell away, the look of them completely unreal to anyone not used to seeing the Opi Opi no mi.

A gasp didn't even get to leave her as she was suddenly yanked backwards by a hand over her mouth, and thrown down the pile she had just climbed. Bits of rock bit into her skin as she tumbled over the jagged edges before wedged between two boulders.

Mara grit her teeth and pushed herself up, keeping her eyes on the man hopping down the ridge toward her. It took all her willpower not to cower. "Stay away from me."

Helios grinned a demented grin, coming to a stop not a foot from her. "Good to see I taught you so well, dear sister. Even with your horrible failure, you still managed to be loyal to me."

"Why would I tell him what you can do?" the woman asked quietly. No matter where she was, Helios was the one at the top of her chain of command. Even in the situation she had with Law.

"Because you're disobedient and you always have been." A terrible glint flashed across his eyes and she just looked away. "Shall we have our little conversation, then? I think we'll have privacy for a good long while, what with your boyfriend so busy over there."

Her hands clenched so tight her knuckles turned white. "He's just a stupid pirate who got in over his head."

"Yes, and I'll deal with him later. After I'm done with you." Helios cocked his head to the side, contemplating her. "He seems quite taken with you."

A sinking feeling in her gut told exactly where this was going. "I would say I'm entertainment. He likes the idea of a marine under his control." She tripped backwards to avoid his grab, but only managed to hit the boulder she had been stuck on.

Helios' hand landed on her upper arm, fingers digging painfully into her flesh. "Now you're just defending him." He tutted. "Defending a pirate."

Panic was spreading over her. All logic told her to freeze and not do anything to oppose him but her panic was telling her to get the only help available to her, even if it was from Trafalgar Law. Her foot lashed out, whipping him in the hip and making his grip slacken from shock.

A simple yank pulled her free and she rushed passed him, clambering up the pile again. "And for some reason you plan to use me against him," Mara called over her shoulder. "He's just a pirate! Stop giving him so much humanity credit!"

"Get back here!" Came the roar from behind her.

The instinct to dodge kicked in, sending her tumbling to the side. His sword bit into the rock beside her. From where it was on the rock, he turned it and lashed it right towards her before she could recover. As the blade sunk into her skin, she yelled out in pain, "Captain Trafalgar!"

Mara could not fight him. She never could. All of the pride she clung to shriveled up and died whenever her brother was around. The only way for her to protect herself from him now was with the help of Law.

There was no warning at all when Law materialized in front of her. His nodachi cut right through Helios, down the center. The man simply dissolved into the air as if he were never there. She could hear Law make a noise of annoyance and he turned to Mara, extending his hand. "Are you alright?"

Without her pride it was remarkably easy to accept the help and be pulled to her feet. "Oh, I'm good. The weather could be better." She clamped a hand over her side. The blood slipped through her fingers almost instantly.

Law grabbed her and suddenly they were back on the other side of the pile. Mara had gotten the briefest glimpse over his shoulder. He was lucky he guessed Helios' attack coming. "If you can still keep up that attitude, I'm not that worried."

She shrugged. "It's a defense mechanism. I'm not sure it's a good thing. But anyway, he ate the Akkei Akkei no Mi. He's an illusion man." That was all she needed to tell him right now. They wouldn't have time for anything else.

That would only be a minor problem, Law was sure. Now that he knew what he was up against it would be easier. "I'll handle it. Can you find a place to hide until he's dead?" Having her safe and not in Helios sight would also make it easier.

There was a pause as she considered it. "He'll see wherever I go. He always knows where I am."

"Easily dealt with."

And then she was somewhere that looked remarkably like everywhere else, just less destroyed. Law really needed to stop with all the teleporting. The sounds of fighting drifted to her ears, so as the very least she wasn't too far away. That ledge over there looked low enough to climb on top of to look around.

From up there she could see the fight, while still being blocked from view by the hunks of stone around her. The two were moving swift and fighting fierce, moving about each other in a deadly dance. Every time Law was able to cut Helios, it turned out to be another illusion.

It didn't even look like Helios was trying to attack. He was just throwing illusions at the pirate, with absolutely no goal apparent. It was weird and wrong. Helios was always up to something and it bothered her that she never knew what. Especially now.

Law sliced the image in front of him. That's when she saw it. Helios appeared right behind the other man, but his sword was no longer in his hand. One of his hands was curled as if he were holding something, but it was impossible to say what at this distance. All she knew was that Law had to move.

Before Mara could call out, Helios grabbed Law's shoulder. Mara could see his knuckles turning white from the grip and his other hand dropped its sword to forcefully shove his clenched fist against Law's lower, skin exposed arm.

Then Helios was gone, landing out of the captain's immediate reach. "I win," he said smugly.

Law glared at him. "Hardly." Even as he spoke, the 'room' faded into nothingness. He brought his hand to his arm and yanked the dart sticking from it out, eying the tip-less object. That wasn't good.

"I made these special." Helios waved another dart, this one completely intact, in front of Law. "The tips are barbed, as I'm sure you've noticed, and made entirely from seastone. You won't be pulling that from your arm anytime soon."

"That hardly means I've lost." Law still knew how to fight. This took away his best weapon, but not his only one.

"Oh, it does." Helios reached into his pocket. The world felt as if it stopped moving as the floor beneath both men gave way into a perfectly square hole. In the stillness of the moment, Mara could see the genuine fear that crossed across both men's faces. It was clear to her that Helios hadn't intended to be on top of the door when it opened.

Then they were gone, plunging into the darkness below. Mara ran down to the edge of the large trapdoor as fast as she could make her legs go and looked down. Some sort of secret cove, likely used back when the marines tried to make the island inhabitable. A maintenance passage or something. Two patches of bubbles decorated the surface of the dark, foreboding water.

Freezing pain shot through her veins and she gasped, falling to her hands and knees. Her eyes squeezed shut against the terrible pain, her hand grasping at the empty hole in her chest. It felt as though ice water was coursing through her veins and another pained gasp escaped her lips.

The cold water below was seeping into her heart, she guessed. The box that contained it not waterproof in the least. And man, was she feeling it. Blood came up in the next cough. If she kept on like this, she would probably die before Law did. Drowning was bad, but still a little slower.

She struggled to her feet as a violent burst of coughing wracked her. A feeling of satisfaction reached her over the stinging pain. Her goal was done, with an added bonus. Law was dying, sinking to the bottom of the sea with no hope of coming back thanks to his devil fruit.

Helios, as well, was sinking. The arrogant bastard had finally made a mistake and he was going to pay for it dearly. Nothing could possibly compare to the relief she felt in that moment, with her brother sinking into the dark water. Now both of the biggest problems of her life were going to die right here and now, alongside her.

What do you know, she had been right back on Sabaody. This time it was Law who was in danger and there _was_ only her there to save him. It gave her a brief flash of grim satisfaction. And unlike his saving-her-life track record, she wasn't about to cause herself further pain by going in after him. Nope. He could just sink to the bottom.


	28. Chapter 28: Things Have Changed

_Law was dying, sinking to the bottom of the sea with no hope of coming back thanks to his devil fruit._

_Helios, as well, was sinking. The arrogant bastard had finally made a mistake and he was going to pay for it dearly. Nothing could possibly compare to the relief she felt in that moment, with her brother sinking into the dark water. Now both of the biggest problems of her life were going to die right here and now, alongside her. _

_What do you know, she had been right back on Sabaody. This time it was Law who was in danger and there _was_ only her there to save him. It gave her a brief flash of grim satisfaction. And unlike his saving-her-life track record, she wasn't about to cause herself further pain by going in after him. Nope. He could just sink to the bottom._

**Chapter 28: Things Have Changed**

Mara's heart constricted painfully.

It wasn't from the water searing through her veins.

"Oh come _on_…" She couldn't believe she was even considering it. The feeling only grew. "Dammit," she cursed, eyeing the near lightless cavern below. With all the effort she could muster, Mara sucked in a huge gasp of air and dove over the ledge into the water. Swimming, holding her breath, and attempting not to choke as her body tried to cough was overwhelming. And she hadn't even begun looking for Law yet.

The salt stung her eyes as she looked. It was dark down here… almost dark enough where she couldn't see anything. Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to contain a particularly commanding cough. Bubbles erupted around her and the taste of copper filled her mouth.

Her agony didn't stop her from diving straight down with no further regards for herself. 'Law..! Where are you..?!' she cried mentally. If this kept up for too long, she would die. A burst of rising bubbles below her drew her attention, and she saw a flash of bright yellow. 'Law!' she wanted to yell in relief.

With renewed effort, she launched herself downwards, her fingers grasping for the yellow. All she obtained was water. 'Come on…' There! Her fingers got purchase on something soggy and pliant. With a strong yank, the weight of the thing increased tenfold.

The body hit hers with force enough to push her backwards. Law's eyes were closed, his face scrunched up in hopeless pain. For once it was her turn to help him. To wipe that look from his handsome face. Her arms wrapped securely around his torso and she propelled them upwards, towards the faint light of the surface.

Bubbles were streaming from the pirate's parted lips. Mara propelled them faster. For once, a fear for something other than herself drove her forward. Law didn't deserve to go out like this, no matter his reason for being on the island. Which were still suspicious, but it wasn't the time to think about them.

They broke the water and she gasped, sucking in all the air she could. Law's eyes were still closed and she got the distinct impression he had fallen unconscious, perhaps even before she found him. Now she needed to find dry land to get him onto, because she wasn't going to be able to hold him up much longer.

Violent shivers wracked her body now. It was difficult to keep her gaze steady as her eyes flickered as fast as the pain shooting through her veins. A man-made dock-like surface a few yards away. Perfect. It took some doing, but she managed to swim over to it and haul the drowned man up.

Her body was shaking so bad she could hardly keep herself up, but at least it wasn't getting worse anymore. That didn't mean she wasn't going to die, of course. But hey, whatever. Getting Law back up was more important right now. Her fingers found his torso and she flipped him onto his back.

CPR was difficult in Mara's current condition, and it was hard to tell if it was having any effect at all. Given her swimming vision and the fact that it was occasionally going fuzzy, it was a reasonable result. Her arms got weaker with every attempt, the muscles simply giving out on her. A curse made it past her blue lips.

The ground hit her side before she even realized she was falling, and there was nothing she could do to stop her consciousness from leaving her.

* * *

The first thing that Mara became aware of was the beeping. The tone was steady, clear, and loud. Something which brought her attention next to the insane pounding in her head and the throbbing in her side. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to lessen the pain. It felt like she had gotten run over by the submarine.

The thought rolled around in her head. Had she gotten run over by the submarine? That would explain the stiffness she was beginning to feel in the rest of her body. It didn't feel like she had any bandages on, though… Wait, no, there was something wrapped around her stomach in the most constricting manner.

The painful region seemed to be covered by it and for some reason, it felt like it was the last thing she should be thinking about. New questions popped into her mind. Like what she _should _be thinking about, if her injured body was not it.

Mara had been… on Khoriel… with Law… A frown marred her lips as she pushed her brain harder. They were going to meet someone… Helios… the fight… the trap… the icy cold pain coupled with a completely different pain as Law fell into the sea and took her heart with him.

Right. That's what happened. Mara didn't allow her mind to linger on those details. Moving on… Let's see… she went in after him, somehow managed to find him and get him out… And that was pretty much it. She clearly wasn't in the cove anymore, so it was time to figure out where she was.

Sitting up was awful. Her muscles protested it with everything they had. Mara groaned but didn't stop moving until she was upright. Blearily, she opened her eyes and she blinked several times. Lots of metal, beeping screens, wires, tubes, and drawers… She was back in the operating theatre. On the submarine. The cogs in her mind were putting the pieces together far too slowly for her tastes.

…how the hell had she gotten there?

Nothing she had to work it explained how she had ended up there. That was probably (so far) the most frustrating part of the day. "Dammit… why do I always end up in this room?" she cursed hoarsely. Having her brain work this slow was something she hated with a passion. She really needed to stop getting hurt, it'd help a lot.

"Confused?"

The voice, familiar and welcome, made her jump and spin around, her hand flying to where her heart would be. Pain lanced straight through to her core at the action. Jean Bart. He was sitting in a chair not five feet away. "Very," she replied slowly. "How did I get back here?"

"Bepo was worried when you two left so we followed you onto the island," he explained readily. "Not very closely since we weren't supposed to be there, mind you. We found the maintenance passage and when we got there, both you and the captain were unconscious. Half-drowned, if I heard right."

The story sounded right, but then… her frown deepened as the hand on her chest prodded herself lightly. Then painfully as she put more force behind it. "Alright…" The distracted tone drew his eyes to her hand. "How long was I out?" The stiffness in her joints told her it was more than a few hours.

"Several days," Jean admitted. "Long enough to get back to Sabaody Archipelago."

Well then. That was something. She decided her most pressing question could wait, as a different concern made itself known. "Where's Captain Trafalgar?"

"He went out with Bepo to resupply the ship's medicine. We appear to be running low, with everything that's been happening this month." Jean wasn't about to mention that the two left five hours ago and Bepo was already back.

Fair enough. Luffy had probably depleted the stock all on his own. "Alright. So why are you in here?" She didn't think they were good enough friends for him to wait by her bedside table until she woke up.

"I was told to answer any questions you had when you awoke," he informed her easily. "The Captain thought it would be best if it was me, since we're on better terms than everyone else."

"What, he worried that I'm going to attack one of them?" Mara asked sarcastically, leaning back on the bed with difficulty.

"No."

It was blunt. It was honest. It annoyed her. And it brought up her most pressing question rather nicely. Mara's frown deepened further, if that was even possible, so that she was almost glaring at the wall. "Why do I suddenly have my heart back?"

There was a kind of hesitance as Jean formulated what he wanted to say, like he was treading on eggshells or trying to control how she would react. "The Captain is letting you go. He told me to tell you that you can leave whenever you want."

Temporarily, Mara's mind went utterly blank. "He's… letting me go? Why would he do that?" It didn't sit well with her because it didn't fit anything she knew about Trafalgar Law. The one thing that had been definite this entire time was that she wasn't going to get away from him alive. Yet here she was, doing exactly that.

The large man shrugged, eyeing her with poorly veiled worry. "He didn't say." Law had just said the simple instruction and left the ship to find supplies. _He_ shouldn't have even been walking around yet, but it was like they could stop the captain from doing what he wanted.

That sat even worse. All of her information gathering instinct screamed at her that something was wrong here. She had been in the business long enough to know that men like Law didn't just let prisoners go, even if that prisoner had saved him from drowning. It simply wasn't in their nature to do so, despite rationality.

However, the rest of her instincts gave a single, unanimous cry. Her eyes moved the beeping machine hooked up to her elbow. Without even stopping to consider it, she yanked the cord out and stood up. Standing was difficult. Walking was difficult. Running was the worst. Her muscles were sore and rejected every movement.

Mara just stubborned her way through it and headed as fast as she could for the deck.

"You're not fully recovered yet!" Jean Bart protested, trying to get her to, at the very least, sit back down and wait for her limbs to be used to movement again.

"I don't care!" Mara snapped over her shoulder, forcing her protesting body to carry her away. "I can leave, right? So I'm leaving!" It wasn't like she had a reason to stay on the ship. An image of Law crept into her head and she shook her head firmly. "I have _no reason _to stay," she muttered firmly, more to herself than the pursuing man.

The longer she stayed on that stupid submarine the more she knew that opinion would change. As much as she hated to admit it, it had been doing so for a long time. She needed to get out _now_. Before she did something that she shouldn't.

Penguin and Shachi startled when the door to the deck swung open suddenly and Mara strode out. None of them were able to offer up much of protest when she went right over to the side and leapt, landed on the island, and took off as fast as she could. The comments they had died in their throats as she disappeared into the distance.

Mara just ran. She didn't know where she was running to. Nowhere. Everywhere. All at once. Nothing was holding her back. Helios was dead. She was completely free for the first time in her life, and she just wanted to run. Run until her legs couldn't carry her anymore.

Which turned out to be only three groves away. It felt like she was bleeding out the wound in her stomach and she could see the red seeping onto the grass. Mara didn't care. When she collapsed into the grass, she was happy. Truly happy for the first time in a long while.


	29. Chapter 29: Gone

**Chapter 29: Gone**

The stars were beautiful. They reminded Mara of Amazon Lily, when she would sleep out on the section of coast they were allowed to camp on. The Grove she was in was darker than some of the others, giving her unrestricted access to the sky.

Two days had passed since Mara left the ship. Two days of sitting, wandering, and fidgeting. What were you supposed to do when you were released from captivity and the only thing holding you to your job was dead?

…Were you _supposed_ to want to go back to your captor?

A sigh escaped her and she squeezed her eyes shut. No, she was certain that wasn't correct solution to draw. That was just stupid. It was also called Stockholm Syndrome, which was most certainly not a good thing to have developed. So all she needed to do was wait it out.

It was all his damn fault anyway. With his smirks, playful taunts, and now that she looked back on it, slightly protective behavior. It wasn't her fault the man saved her from both her coworkers and Eustass Kid. It wasn't her fault that he kissed her on Amazon Lily.

Mara would, however, admit that it was her fault she didn't push him away. That could be considered encouraging behavior, which may have resulted in the second two kisses. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't wanted more. A growl escaped her lips.

Trafalgar Law was a pirate. The sooner her heart learned that, the sooner they could get along happily and cohesively.

* * *

"Captain?" The light knocking on his door had persisted for the past several minutes. He could practically see Bepo standing there, worried, as he continued to knock against the metal. He was a very loyal nakama. Law was lucky to have him.

But all he wanted right now was for the bear to go away.

Law rolled onto his side and face the wall next to his bed. It had taken him a while to pin down the emotion he felt. He wasn't pouting. No, that didn't fit the situation at all. Disappointment was better word. A disappointment so intense that he could feel it in his hollow stomach.

From the moment that spirited woman had been bound to him, Law had been certain of one thing: such a woman would be off like a shot into the wild blue yonder if he let her go. He knew it was in her nature, because he had seen so many people with similar spirit. At the time, it truly hadn't mattered. Never once did he consider the possibility of letting her go.

The longer he had spent with her, the more she burrowed her way into his mind. The first few days she was just a form of amusement to him. Obviously. And it was really entertaining to watch the little government dog squirm. She took everything that was thrown at her and sent it right back at him.

Then, as she spent more time around him, he found himself wanting her more and more. More than he had ever wanted a person. He wouldn't call it love. Not the feelings from way back then. The realization of the level of his attachment hit him rather hard when Bepo told him Mara had been kidnapped. No, the word for it wasn't in his mind. But she was.

His single-minded determination to get her back surprised even himself. His desire to kill all the people who could do such a thing in the future was equally strong. That was why he hunted down all the agents tracking the Supernovas, cut off their heads, and placed them in a crate. Hearts wouldn't do. No, he wanted the message of what he had done to ring out loud and clear.

It would be the perfect call to battle for when he took out that superior of hers.

Her callous assumption that he planned to hurt or kill her stung him every single time she said it after that. He knew the feeling was irrational. He was a logical enough person that such emotions didn't completely control his thoughts.

Law was probably the most rational person in the world when it came to love, because that was what it clearly was. It spilled over from his ability to be rational and logical during every other time. The control he had over his own mind was simply stunning.

So when Mara's words stung, he distanced himself. Getting more attached than he had already been was dangerous to everything he lived for. It helped that he knew at that very moment, she was plotting to take his head. The thought helped to keep everything in perspective.

He slept in the kitchen, keeping far away from the cabin the woman rested in. The conversation he heard that night would have hurt if he hadn't heard the doubt in Mara's voice as she spoke to Jean. It made him want to stand up and talk to her. Such a conversation at that time would only lead to arguments and problems.

His emotions remained in check. They did not consume him. His functionality as a pirate and a captain was not lost.

Many of her outbursts were from simple denial. Denial of liking the life of a pirate as opposed to her own. Denial that she wanted to be friends with the people aboard the submarine. Every chance he got, he tried to make her see her that.

No, it wouldn't help him the least bit in the end. But it was a better thought that she wouldn't go back to her job than the idea that she would. He could handle that. So long as she was free to do as she pleased. Because he had known even then, as the war began, that he would let her go.

As things stood now, he would definitely go after her if he left his room right now. That wasn't an option, since it defeated the purpose of letting her go in the first place. If she stayed, he wanted it of her own free will. Which clearly was not going to happen.

* * *

Sapphire eyes glinted in the moonlight as Mara looked upon the submarine. The yellow thing was exactly where she had left it days ago, anchored near Grove Seven. It didn't look like it had budged an inch. Her head cocked to the side in confusion.

Weren't they just here to resupply or something to that nature? Why the hell hadn't they left yet? If they stayed for too long, the marines or bounty hunters would take notice. She would honestly be surprised if they hadn't already been attacked. It wasn't like he was too low on the food chain to escape notice. Quite the opposite, actually.

From the base of the large tree she stood under, she could see several people on the deck even in this late hour. They wouldn't be able to see her from the shadow the tree was casting, so it was the perfect observational spot.

Mara could just watch them, let her mind ease, then get the hell away. It wasn't like she _liked_ them or anything. Her feet shuffled in the grass lightly. Yep. Watch and then leave. Absolutely nothing was keeping her here.

In no way did she miss that bastards teasing or the way he watched her as if she were the most interesting thing in the area, even when surrounded by who knew how many women. There was no way she missed how close he had been that night or the press of his lips on hers.

Nothing at all kept her here.

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. There was no way… and yet… she couldn't bring herself to turn her back on the submarine and walk away. Her feet refused to listen to her. All she wanted in that moment was to go onto that ship and find Law.

Snippets of conversation reached her from the deck and though it was quiet, she could hear every word as if they were shouting it at her. The Heart Pirates were leaving tomorrow. They would not return to Sabaody Archipelago for a long while. It killed her to think that he would be leaving without her. Something was stirring in her that she had considered a myth previously.

Mara Reade could not possibly love Trafalgar Law.

But all the evidence was pointing to exactly that, so there was very little she could do to refute it. The realization sunk in slowly. The heart she had gained merely three days previous was beating so loud it drowned out every other sound. It was that sound that made it truly sink in.

Even though Law had given her heart back, it had never left the yellow craft. Law still held it even as it beat in her chest, pounding the finality of her thoughts loud and clear. She loved him. Somewhere along the line, she had fallen for him without even noticing until he was no longer there.

Mara took one last look at the submarine before turning her back on it. Knowing the problem made it easier to deal with, as always.

Time to get back to work.

* * *

"Mara!"

Said woman turned around, putting a hand up to shield her eyes from the bright light. Her other hand dropped into her pocket, tucking the folded paper in her grasp out of the way. "Scratch, what are you still doing here?"

'Here' currently consisted of the wreckage that was Marineford. Most of the building were destroyed by something or another, and marines could be seen running around in an attempt to gather what was left. The center of the government was being moved across the Red Line into the New World in light of what had happened.

Scratch, a wiry man with almost florescent red hair and a wide grin, came to a skidding halt from his previous run right in front of her. "I'm helping with the relocation, of course! More importantly, what are you doing here? I heard you'd been captured!"

For a second, she just looked at him. There was a reason she had never interacted with him. He was way to cheerful all the time. It drained her whenever she was around him. "I was, but I managed to get away." No need to say she was let go. "When I got back Commander Virian told me to help with the Cipher Pol offices."

"Wow, you don't waste any time, do you?" Scratch rubbed the back of his head. "I could help, if you like. I just got on break."

Her first instinct was to decline. Then she remembered just how big the offices were and just how much was stored there. "Yeah, sure. I'd love the help."

"Great!" They began the trek to the buildings, occasionally climbing over piles of rubble. "So what happened while you were gone?"

Fell in love with a pirate. "You probably don't want to know. Captain Trafalgar isn't the most sane individual I've met." True, but it hadn't caused much harm to _her_. Eh. No need to tell him that. "Nothing permanent, luckily." That could be seen, anyway.

"That's good to hear," Scratch commented enthusiastically, always looking on the bright side. His grin slipped momentarily before it was back in place. "Have you heard about Helios?"

Mara rose a brow curiously. "No, I haven't. Did something happen?"

"He's gone missing," the man informed her carefully. He pushed the broken door out of the way and she ducked into the partially destroyed building. "He left a few days ago on a one man ship and no one's heard from him since."

Mara flipped through some papers sitting on a nearby desk, biting back the smirk that was threatening to form. She sent him a concerned look before ducking back behind the papers. "What?! Has anyone tried looking for him?"

Scratch nodded, pulling several log books from the shelves and piling them on the first flat surface he came across, which happened to be a tiny square of floor. "Cipher Pol has sent out a few people, but it's like his ship just vanished. No one's seen it. Not even the dock workers on the nearby islands."

Good. The bastard didn't manage to get saved. "I'm sure he'll be alright. He's strong, after all. Not much can bring him down." Just the captain of the Heart Pirates.

"I'm sure you're right," Scratch agreed cheerfully. He looked around the room and eyed the doors leading to the other offices. "How much of this stuff are you responsible for?"

Mara chewed her lip in thought and pulled the crumpled list from where it was stuck in her back pocket. "These records, I guess." She examined the list as if it were the first time she had bothered to read it. "Damn, these are going to be all over the place."

"Let me see." Scratch lifted the paper from her hand, scanning it quickly. He let out a low whistle. "Yeah, this is going to take some searching. Talk about getting the important stuff first." The list returned to her hand. "Ah, don't worry about it. We'll get all of it loaded up in no time."

Mara stuffed the list back into her pocket. "Yep. Shall we?"


	30. Chapter 30: Liar, Liar

**Chapter 30: Liar, Liar**

Mara examined the pile of books on the table in front of her. It had taken her and Scratch several hours of searching to find them all, having been scattered around the many offices of all the Cipher Pol sections. In total they numbered around seventeen, easily fitting into the snug black box Mara could carry under one arm if she positioned it right.

"Thanks for the help," Mara thanked Scratch cheerfully.

Said man was across the room, leafing through the pages of a large dusty tome. He glanced over at her and smiled brightly. "Anything to help. I know how Commander Virian can be when his orders aren't followed quickly."

She couldn't help the tiny malicious grin that she hid as she ducked behind the box. "He might have a tougher time now that his enforcer is missing." Virian and Helios often worked together because their styles complimented each other so much: Virian liked to organize and Helios liked to enforce.

Scratch gave a consenting bob of his head. "That's true."

"Not that it really matters at this point," Mara added thoughtfully. "We got everything, so mission accomplished." She began to pile the books into the box, being sure to not damage any of them.

Across the room, she could hear Scratch putting his book away. "So…"

That didn't sound like the start to a conversation Mara wanted to have. The word hung in the air for a few moments as she placed two more books. "Yes, Scratch?"

"You spent quite a lot of time on Trafalgar Law's ship, right?" He asked hesitantly.

Mara pretty much assumed that was a given. It had been about a month since she first got captured, give or take a few days. "I did."

Scratch looked slightly uncomfortable. "So you must have learned some things about him, right? Things that we don't already know?" Ah, that made more sense. He was the type who didn't want to cause unnecessary stress for others. Simply asking such a question would trouble him.

The woman gave a noncommittal shrug.

"I mean, he seems to be becoming quite the problem..." When she didn't reply, he began to look nervous. What if he was prying into a traumatic experience? "Anything you might have learned could be useful for arresting him."

Like hell. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to tell," Mara admitted carefully. "I wasn't around him all that much, unless he was dragging me around like his pet."

Scratch relaxed a little. "Surely he revealed _something_."

Another shrug. "He was fairly diligent with that." Blatant lie, but he wasn't the most observant man she'd met.

The lie slid right over his head. "Too bad. I have a feeling we're going to need all the information we can get on that guy."

Yes, yes they would. Mara paused in her stacking to smile at him. "He's just another rookie. Not even the highest of the bounties, either. I'd be more worried about Kid."

"Or that Strawhat boy," Scratch added. Then his eyes lit up with realization. "You were with Trafalgar when he took that kid away, weren't you?"

"I was."

"Did he make it? There hasn't been any word in the papers or anything," he mused. "He looked pretty beat up, but people seem to think he's still alive. Well, some of them, anyway."

There was silence as Mara contemplated what to say. "I got away before there were any signs either way, so I'm afraid I can't say." The boy would probably show up any day now, so no real harm done with that particular lie. Not that she cared.

"I don't think he's dead," Scratch declared. "With all I've read, I just can't imagine him going out in such a way."

Mara laughed softly. "Yeah, he's pretty indestructible. I mean-"

"Reade." The deep male voice sharply cut her off and both of them looked to the door with varying emotions: Scratch looked guilty and Mara frowned. The man who was standing there was tall, well over seven feet, with black hair almost sheared completely off.

Scratch stood up straight. "Commander Virian."

Virian's green gazer flickered to him. "You are dismissed, McCowin." His tone left no room for argument. Not that either would have posed one.

"Of course, sir." With one last glance and friendly smile to Mara, he slipped past their boss and out the door.

"Hello Commander," Mara greeted. While the guy worked with Helios, he was still nicer in the long run. Well, she was pretty sure.

Virian nodded and looked around the room, eyes scanning everything, hands clasped behind his back in a very militant pose. "It's good to see you're back, Reade. How long have you been away from Trafalgar Law's clutches?"

She cocked her head in thought. How long _had _it been? She wasn't really keeping count anymore. "Four, maybe five days? It took a while to get a ship back here, I only got here this morning. Seven hours, tops."

Expressionless, he nodded again. "I see. And why didn't you come find me when you arrived?" he questioned. She couldn't tell if he was actually calm or just being deceptively so.

"I was unable to find you, sir. I was told by the agents I managed to find to come here and begin collecting the log books for departure," Mara informed him, motioning to the box in front of her. She lifted a pad of paper on the desk. "I was taking inventory before boxing them up, so I haven't managed to pack many of them yet."

Virian eyed the box and the notepad. "Very good work, Reade. I take it McCowin was helping you with this task?"

"Yes, sir. He was very helpful. I don't think I would have been able to get all the inventory done in such a short amount of time without him." The man needed that much credit, at least. Even if it was completely false.

"I will be sure to make note of that," he assured her. He simply looked at her for several long moments before pulling a stack of paper from his jacket. "You were captured and taken aboard Trafalgar Law's ship for one month. Protocol dictates you fill out these as quickly as possible."

Mara took the papers and flipped through them. Damn, those were a lot of questions and statistics. "Yes, sir."

"Have it filled out by the end of the day." Virian looked around the room one more time. "You can continue this work tomorrow. Those forms are to be top priority."

"Understood."

Seemingly satisfied, he nodded again and turned to leave. Just as he was about to go through the door he stopped. "I assume McCowin mentioned that Helios has gone missing?" The man looked to her expectantly.

Mara put on the best neutral face she could muster. "Yes, sir. Have there been any leads?"

"No." His suddenly very probing stare was making it harder to keep emotions at bay. "No new ones, anyway. There was something he said before he left that bothers me, though."

She blinked in confusion, doing her best to play off the entire thing. Virian knew the siblings weren't close so pretending like Helios missing made her upset was laughable. "What's that?"

"He mentioned something about a 'damn cocky rookie' he planned to 'annihilate'." That definitely sounded like him. "I didn't think the plan was immediate."

"But now you do?" Mara guessed. "You think one of those rookies did this?"

The probing stare was back. "I do."

He hadn't accused Law yet, so that was good. It meant Helios had probably hidden the little package from him. "Do you have an idea about which one?"

Virian frowned. "No."

They stared at each other, neither blinking.

Finally, the man relented. "Get those papers to me tonight, Reade. We have some things to discuss." That likely involved a yellow submarine.

"Will do, sir."

With one final nod, Virian exited the building. Mara looked down at the forms in her hand, briefly contemplating them. They were ten pages long and filled with the most monotonous questions that in no way did she want to answer. Easily rectified. They were placed under the notepad and promptly ignored.

A sly smile came to her lips as she glanced back over at the door. My, the people here were unobservant for people who spent their entire lives observing others. It just made things easier for her, she supposed, but damn if it wasn't funny.

Mara tossed the last of the books into the box and just as she was about to heft it onto her shoulder, a sound tore through the air making her stop. A bell was ringing. No, _the_ _Ox bell _was ringing. Way too many times for the marines to be the ones doing it.

It was only rung more than a few times at the start of a new year, and then the total ended up as fifteen rings. Eight for the past year and eight to welcome the new year. It was the wrong time of year for such a thing, though.

The box was heavy on her shoulder ass she ran, but she didn't care. The bell was still ringing its beautiful sound as she pushed herself towards it, and when it stopped she counted sixteen rings. There was no telling what that meant at this moment, but she had an idea.

An idea that was confirmed as she rounded the corner to the harbor. The backs of Luffy and Jimbei greeted her as they walked back towards the harbor, completely unconcerned that they were in the middle of a past war ground and marine headquarters.

"Jimbei!" Mara called.

The fishman and Strawhat paused and turned to look at the woman running toward them. Both had the decency to look utterly confused. "Mara?" Jimbei wondered. "What are you doing here?" Then he looked around, as if expecting more people.

"Captain Trafalgar's not here," she corrected, knowing who he searched for. She came to a stop directly in front of them.

"You were with Trafal-guy, right?" Luffy asked curiously.

Mara nodded and smiled at the boy. "Yeah. Though at the moment I'm on my own. I'm glad to see you're well, Luffy." Luffy grinned in response.

Jimbei just looked at her suspiciously. "Why would he let you come here alone? That seems like poor planning, in my opinion."

She shrugged. "I'm retrieving some things. I try not to question him." Man, she was on a role today. Bluffing was officially her new favorite skill. "I was actually wondering…" She bit her lip to make herself look nervous. "I'm a little stuck here. I no longer have access to the ship I came on and I don't have a way to get in contact with Captain Trafalgar to get a new way out."

"You can come with us," came the instant offer from Luffy.

"Really?" Mara feigned surprise and happiness. "Thank you! That would be great!" They turned and hopped on the back of the whale shark, Mara somewhat hesitantly. "So you guys declaring war or something?"

Luffy laughed, making a delighted 'shishishi' sound. "Nope. I'm sending a message to my crew." He turned and displayed the new markings on his arm. 3D 2Y, with the 3D crossed out.

"What's it mean?"

"We're meeting again in two years," Luffy supplied. Jimbei didn't look particularly pleased that the information was so easily given, even if Mara had helped them once.

"Aren't you with the government?" Jimbei asked, eyeing the box on her shoulder. This situation simply made no sense to him. Luffy looked over curiously, not having known that.

Mara's head bobbed to the side in thought. "Well, I'm certainly supposed to be. I feel like that's not worth so much anymore."

"Then have you actually joined Law?" He asked skeptically.

"Can't say that I have. I'm just going with the flow for the time being." The flow that she was creating as she went. "Where are you guys headed?"

"Back to the calm belt. The Kuja are waiting there to pick Luffy up," the fishman explained. "Then I can take you where you need to go."

Indeed, the ship was waiting for them just inside the calm belt. Luffy launched himself from the back of the whale shark onto the deck of the ship, much to the delight of the women on board. Once they finished greeting him, he turned and leaned on the rail, looking down at the two still on the fish.

"Jimbei, thanks for everything!" He called.

"For what? I'm the one who should be thanking you," Jimbei corrected. "In Impel Down, I asked you to give me 'a place to die', and while I managed to shamefully survive, I believe I'll be able to keep helping you in the future." He shook his head and smiled. "In any case, let us meet two years later- at Fishman Island! I will be waiting in excitement for the day you and your crew arrive!"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. His attention shifted to Mara. "Thanks, Trafal-guy's nakama!"

Mara openly laughed at that. "I didn't really do anything, but good luck, Luffy!"

As the ship disappeared into the distance, Jimbei turned to her, his expression wary but kind. "Where am I taking you?"

She pulled a folded scrap of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here."

He examined it. "A Vivre Card?"

"Yep." Mara nodded and seated herself down comfortably, an arm lazily draped over her box. "I'm headed wherever that points."


	31. Chapter 31: Deja Vu

**Chapter 28: Déjà Vu**

Law had been alright with everything, despite what he knew and felt. Because he was rational even when his heart pounded at the sight of another. He had to commend himself on the restraint and control he exerted when she would appear, suddenly and without warning, after being cooped up for days.

Then it had happened. They had been watching the war on the screens in Sabaody Archipelago and Mara stood and announced she wanted food. They had been watching Ace's pain, and she had been questioning her government. He was making progress even as she walked away from him.

So he hadn't followed her when she left. He understood. She had things to think about. His eyes had lingered on her until she was out of sight, then he had refocused on the screen. It had been history. No one could fault him for that.

Except himself. He faulted himself every day for it. The sound had caught his attention over the murmurs of the crowd and the noise coming from the screens. It caught his attention because it sounded like his name, and he would know that voice anywhere.

Bepo instantly confirmed what he heard with his keener animal hearing. Law had been on his feet before the words finished leaving the bear's mouth. His heart had pounded in his chest. Mara was not one to admit the need for help.

The desperate shriek tore through him and sunk into his heart. The all-out running did nothing to quell the feeling of distress. What could have possibly happened to her? Everyone was busy. No one had time to attack her.

His fear and anger shot through the roof the second he rounded the corner. Mara was pinned to the wall, struggling violently. Her lower body was stuck to the wall by an unseen force that was obvious when he took in the man holding her.

Law's fist had collided with Kid's jaw with more force than he had ever hit someone before. It wasn't his preferred method of attack, after all. It was the first time he allowed his feelings for her to take complete and utter control of his actions.

That was when he knew he was in too deep. Yet as more time went by, he found himself unable to tear himself away from her. Mara was doing her best to keep away from him when they first arrived on Amazon Lily. Law allowed it for the first few days even though he had seen her defend him and knew she didn't hate him quite as much as she said.

It was also quite amusing to watch her stiffen every time the warriors approached him. Oh yes, he was always watching out of the corner of his eye. How could he not, when she so obviously had a problem with women talking to him?

He couldn't deny that the night she approached him, his control slipped. It wasn't something he could help, so he was glad when she hadn't rejected him. At that point he had been sure they were on friendly terms, no matter what kept her with him.

Waking up in his room after the incident on Khoriel, one thing had been clear to him. He couldn't have her around anymore. His control was shaky at best and he couldn't risk making her hate him when he undoubtedly did something he would regret.

When he replaced her heart in her chest and let her go, he wasn't sure what he had expected. Hesitation? At most, he could say he hoped for hesitation. He wasn't foolish enough to think she would forgo her long awaited escape.

The news of her fleeing at top speed without letting the stiffness leave her joints was a little bit humbling.

They could have left the island at any time after that. Days passed and they stayed there. Law hated to admit it, but he was waiting. Waiting, hoping for that woman to come back. The notion was futile and childish, he knew.

Mara Reade was gone for good.

So yesterday the Heart Pirates set sail, and without the weather to affect their travel they had gone quite a distance. Now that they were out at sea he had no hope she would return. Not that he blamed her, when it came down to it.

Law sighed and rolled onto his back. Time would make it better. Hopefully. Well, that's what they say, anyway, whoever _they_ are. An odd feeling pricking crept onto his neck, like he was being watched. It took him several moments to believe what it was he was feeling, and several more to register what that entailed.

A pressure was in the room. An odd pressure that he could only recognize as one thing. Like the other time this pressure invaded his room, he showed nothing that would lead it to assume he was aware. He simply closed his eyes and waited.

It was moving near his bed. It didn't feel like it was coming at him. No, it felt like it was going to go past him. But it was moving within arm's reach of him, should he feel the inclination to reach out and grab it. A smirk came to his lips. This felt familiar.

It was almost level with his head when he lashed out. The movement was fast but surely expected, though the pressure didn't fight as it was yanked to him. This time, no noise left it. He swung his body and it, pinning it to the mattress beneath him.

Unlike the last time this event occurred, he didn't turn on the lamp. The starlight this night was enough for him to see the familiar sapphire eyes staring up at him. Long chestnut hair was flared out beneath her like a blanket. Her light skin almost glowed in the light from the porthole.

"Well, this seems familiar, Miss Mara," Law drawled after several long silent moments, the smirk never leaving his lips.

"Hm. Déjà vu," Mara agreed in a tone that wasn't really fitting to the situation. It was contemplative, like she were considering what she had for breakfast.

"What brings you here?" The question was mocking her statement, since he had said the very same thing to her the first time they met.

There was silence as Mara decided what to say. Now that she was actually there, it all seemed to leave her. "I never thanked you for saving me, all those times. The agents, Kid, Helios… Especially Helios. Really, I can't thank you enough for that one."

Law shifted so he wasn't holding her wrists down, though he didn't move his body. His hands planted on either side of her face. "You saved me from drowning," he reminded her. "I think we're even."

His words couldn't have been farther from the truth. "We'll never be even." Her words were quiet but he had no trouble picking them up.

Normally he'd contest her, but at the moment he had two more pressing concerns. "How did you even get on board?" Law wondered, eyeing her with interest. They were in the middle of the ocean, in the Grand Line. Randomly setting sail and hitting their specific ship wasn't really something that was possible.

Mara pulled something from her pocket and held it above her, just below his face. It was a small piece of paper. "Vivre Card. The night before you left I called in a favor to get one. Pretty much everyone here was asleep, so it was easy to get on board and hide the other part."

"Tricky. Why?"

Mara shrugged and dropped the card carelessly to the side. Its usefulness was past. "I had something to do before speaking to you and I needed a way to find you when you set sail."

Well, it made sense for the most part. "What did you want to talk about?"

She cleared her throat, embarrassed and dropping all pretense of pride. "I have a proposition."

"Interesting place for a proposition." The smirk on his face was pure seduction to her. Law leaned down, his lips hovering right over her ear. "I think the proposition is supposed to come first, Miss Mara." His breath fanned over her ear and neck as he spoke.

A shiver shot straight down her spine. Now was not the time to think about that, Mara. It could come later, of course, but now she had to get her request out. "I want to be a pirate." He buried his smirk in her neck. "I want to be a Heart Pirate. And I wasn't really sure how well that would go over, all things considered, so I brought something to offer should you accept."

His lips trailed across her neck and she gasped as he kissed the hollow of her throat. "That sounds nice and all," he nipped teasingly at her skin, "but I think you're all I need out this deal."

"Well then." The lips moving along her sensitive skin didn't really allow her too much concentration for thinking, like she wanted to be able to do. "I'll just give you my gift tomorrow."

Law grinned into her skin. "I think that's a good idea."

"I guess you weren't just messing with me on Amazon Lily, were you? You know, based on the suddenly very different behavior you're displaying," Mara observed lightly. It made her feel better about coming back, since she hadn't really considered Law would reciprocate. Or, um, pin her down in a nonthreatening manner.

"No, I wasn't." And he wasn't going to apologize for suddenly taking advantage of the situation. She knew exactly what would happen when she appeared the way she did. Her claim of 'déjà vu' was sarcastic. No, Mara wanted things to end up like this. His hand moved to run long the curve of her side in a tantalizing manner. "I want you to stand beside me. No more games."

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, reminding her of her total freedom in the situation. It felt amazing to not have to be suspicious of his every move, though that would probably return in the morning. "'If you love something set it free'," Mara recited. "'If it comes back to you, it's yours'… right?" His slender fingers wrapped around the curve of her hip. "I'm back, Captain Trafalgar," she said simply.

Law couldn't help licking his lips. "Use my name." He had only ever heard her utter it once, in a moment of terror from a great distance away. He wanted to hear her say it under better circumstances.

Mara lifted a hand to run along the line of his jaw, admiring his perfection. Yeah, she loved him. There was no doubt in her mind. "I love you, Law," she vowed quietly.

"And I love you, Mara." Law leaned down and captured her tempting lips in a kiss. Her arms snuck around his neck and buried in his short raven hair, holding him close. A nip to her bottom lip made her open for him, but that didn't stop the dominance dance as their tongues met.

Mara's hands slid down his back to the hem of his shirt. Dancing fingers slipped beneath, teasing the tanned skin of his lower back. She was pleased at how his muscles jumped under her hands and how it made him press closer to her. Law groaned into the kiss.

Tonight was going to be a good night.

* * *

Light touches on her stomach woke her. The hard torso behind her made her smile and she carefully turned around. The touches moved with her, moving over her back. Mara lifted a hand to Law's face and pulled it down to her for a heated kiss.

"So, I can join your crew, then?" Mara asked when she pulled away, smiling cheekily at him.

Law chuckled. "Yeah."

"Great."

He watched with amused interest as she squirmed her way out of his hold and began picking up her clothes so she could put them on. "Where are you going?"

"I told you, I have a more… useful gift to give you, as well," Mara reminded him. It hadn't really been her intention to offer… well, herself in the way that she had. Not that she was complaining. The original plan had been formulated before she learned Law actually wanted her.

Slower, he stood and went to his dresser. He dug through it for a minute before tossing some cloth her way. "Here, wear these."

Upon examination, she found the offered clothes to be a soft black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of his spotted pants. "Well, this doesn't say 'slept with the captain'," she said sarcastically, waving the clothes in the air before her. "Are your nakama going to kill me if I wear this?"

Law gave her his sexiest smirk. "It's going to be happening often, so they better get used to the idea." He began to dig through the drawer again.

"I see you're not pulling any punches."

"You came back of your own free will and entered my room in the middle of the night," Law reminded her distractedly. "I call that an invitation."

Mara pulled her undergarments on before yanking the clothes overtop. "Fair enough." She probably would have done the same if their positions were reversed. Hm… reversed… Her eyes flickered over to look at him. That was an interesting thought.

But one for another night.

"So, Mara, where are we going?" Law had his clothes on and he was ready to go.

That was a great question. "Where's Penguin?"

If the request caught him off-guard, he didn't show it. He glanced at the porthole. "We're surfaced, so he's probably on deck with Shachi and Bepo."

"Then that's where we're going." She grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him from the room. "This is certainly different from before I left," Mara observed, noting how he didn't seem to care she how she had claimed one of his hands.

"It is," Law agreed readily. "I like to think of it as an improvement."

Mara eyed him. "If you think I'm done teasing you, you're sorely mistaken," she warned. It was too fun an activity to stop, even if they were together.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He pushed open the door to the deck. The first thing they were greeted by was the blinding sunlight. The second thing was the Hearts gathered before them, all smiling at their captain. Well, except Bepo. He was sleeping near the railing, something Law was quick to take advantage of as he used the bear as a pillow to lean against.

His woman just shook her head and approached Penguin. The two had never really gotten along, but it appeared to be different now that she wasn't planning to kill his captain. Before she could even ask, he nodded his head to the side. "It's over there. I figured you'd give it to him this morning, so I brought it out with me."

"Thanks." She was sure to give him an appreciative smile. They were going to be living with each other now, after all. They might do more than tolerate each other.

Penguin responded with a smile of his own, though it was hard to see it because of his outfit. "No problem."

Her box was sitting just off to the side of the door, with Jean standing near it to make sure it didn't slide anywhere. The Hearts shifted so she could drag the box to their captain without going around them. "Here you go," Mara announced, letting the box rest at the man's feet.

Law leaned forward and pushed the lid off. It was packed full of books marked on the covers with handwriting. Even though he had never seen the personally, he could guess at what they were. "Hm."

"They're government records ranging over a number of topics, including islands in the New World, Shichibukai, and the Emperors," Mara explained. "A good deal of the information hasn't been told to the public."

"Impressive." He put the book he was examining back in the box and replaced the lid. "Did you go back to Marineford for these?"

Her head bobbed to the side sheepishly. "Yeah. They're in the process of moving everything over to the other side of the Red Line, so it wasn't very hard to obtain it all."

The smirk was returning. "So the girl Mister Strawhat took from Marineford was you, was it?"

That completely floored her. How did he know she left the island with Luffy? "What?"

"Mister Strawhat's stunt at Marineford was in the newspaper yesterday," Law explained. "The article mentioned that he left with a woman who hadn't arrived with him. There was speculation that he was there to pick her up."

"I was in the newspaper? Cool." Never had that happen before, being a shadow and all. She glanced at the crew, another question coming to mind. "So are we headed for the New World? I heard the other Supernovas are already wreaking havoc there."

A tattooed hand snatched her wrist and pulled her down to sit beside him. "No."

"Eh?!" All attention was on Law. "You're still not going to the New World yet?!" The crew exclaimed practically as one entity.

Law crossed his arms behind his head as he lounged on Bepo. "I told you… I'm waiting for the right time. Don't get rushed. One Piece isn't going anywhere."

"But look how much Blackbeard's guys are going wild there…" Penguin reminded him. It wouldn't be good if that man got the treasure first.

"Those who want to butt heads can just butt heads and kill each other for all I care," Law told his crew dismissively. Mara smiled at him. She shouldn't have been all that surprised that he came to that conclusion. "I'm not going to join in some stupid fight like that." His expression darkened in a maliciously happy kind of way. "I'll be sure to steal the proper throne!"

Mara grinned as the Hearts cheered, allowing Law to pull her toward him for another deep kiss, not caring that the crew was watching. She would be beside him wherever he went, until the day his dream was realized and beyond.

~End~

* * *

**A/N: **_Alright guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and all... but yes, this is the end. _

_However, I am considering writing a sequel that takes place in 2Y. I'm not really sure how people would feel about that, so I'm not saying anything for sure. Please note that if I do write one, it will not be published for quite a while. I would wait to write it until after the Dressrosa Arc so I can be informed and know what's going on, since Law is an important part there. That being said, my publishing habits would remain as they are now should I do that. _

_Let me know what you guys think. _

_Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them and I'm not going to lie, some of you influenced the story with your in depth speculation. _


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